Rapid Determination of Degradation in Frying Oils with Near‐Infrared Spectroscopy

Measures of free fatty acids (FFA), total polar materials (TPM), and conjugated dienoic acids (CDA), typical indices of oil degradation, were analyzed in daily oil aliquots taken from soybean oils with different linolenic acid concentrations used to fry French fries. The oils also were scanned with a reflectance near‐infrared spectrometer using a wavelength range of 350–2,500 nm. By using partial least squares and one‐out cross validation, calibrations were developed to quantitatively determine FFA, TPM, and CDA by near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). The coefficients of determination (R2) when compared to the standard methods were 0.973 for FFA, 0.984 for TPM, and 0.902 for CDA. NIRS was an accurate and fast method to determine FFA, TPM, and CDA in oxidized oils. The ability to obtain different parameters simultaneously makes NIRS a potentially valuable tool for food quality assurance.