Evolution of the oxidation process in olive oil triacylglycerol under accelerated storage conditions (40–60°C)

This paper presents an analysis of oxidation in olive oil TAG at different temperatures within a range of 40–60°C in darkness, as measured by the rate of formation of hydroperoxides, their decomposition products, and sensory and chemical flavor deterioration. At 60°C, the oxidation process was relatively fast, and all the indexes of the extent of oxidation behaved in a very similar way. The behaviors of the rate of formation of conjugated dienes (measured as the K 232 ), of oxidized TAG (determined by HPLC), and of carbonyl compounds (measured as anisidine value) were very similar to that of the PV. The induction periods (IP) of the four indexes were less than 36 h. Nevertheless, the IP for K 270 and the sum of oxidized TAG dimers and polymers were 5 d. At 50 and 40°C, the rate of formation of secondary oxidation products was lower. Residual linolenic acid or PUFA as determined by GC showed correlation coefficients higher than 0.999 with the Totox index at all of the assayed temperatures. The rancid recognition threshold corresponded to lower values of the oxidation indexes at lower temperature. Moreover, at all assayed temperatures, the rancidity threshold apparently coincided with the IP for the kinetics of 2,4‐decadienal formation.