Role of Tocopherol as an Antioxidant in Safflower Oil

In a mixture of oleic and linoleic acids in equal proportions, the latter dominates the autoxidation pattern. At 63° C, γ‐tocopherol offered the best protection to linoleate‐rich substrates, with α‐and δ‐next in order. Safflower oil is insufficiently protected by its own tocopherols. Doubling the tocopherol content by supplementation or increasing the cephalin content effected only slight improvement. Safflower oil is best stabilized by a combination of synthetic phenolic antioxidants and synergists.