The flavor problem of soybean oil. VIII. Linolenic acid

Summary Circumstantial evidence has long pointed to linolenic acid as the unstable precursor of “reversion” flavors in soybean oil. Direct evidence has now been obtained from two sources: a) A qualitative study of the flavors after storage of soybean oil in which the linolenic acid content has been significantly lowered by furfural extraction, and b) organoleptic identification studies of stored soybean oil, stored cottonseed oil, and a cottonseed oil into whose glyceride structure linolenic acid has been introduced with the use of an interesterification catalyst. It is concluded that linolenic acid is an unstable precursor of “fishy‐painty‐grassy‐melony” flavors in soybean oil.