The variation of oxidative stability and sensory attributes of sunflower oil induced by essential oil from Magnolia liliflora Desr. during high‐temperature storage

Summary Essential oils are considered one of the most prominent natural antioxidants in vegetable oils. Herein, sunflower oil was flavoured by the essential oil extracted from the flowers of Magnolia liliflora Desr. (MLEO), and its oxidative stability and sensory properties during the high‐temperature storage at 65 °C were explored. After the storage for 30 days, MLEO at 1600 mg kg −1 could significantly suppress the increase for acidity value, peroxide value, ρ‐anisidine value and total oxidation values ( P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). In the meantime, the elevation for thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, conjugated dienes and trienes was significantly suppressed as well ( P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Additionally, MLEO at 1600 mg kg −1 was able to restrict the transformation for the fatty acid composition of sunflower oil, and the sensory attributes of sunflower oil could be obviously improved. Consequently, MLEO could be employed as one potential natural antioxidant for sunflower oil.