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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Functional Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #380061
Research Project: Increasing Food Shelf-Life, Reducing Food Waste, and Lowering Saturated Fats with Natural Antioxidants and Oleogels

Location: Functional Foods Research

Title: Amino acid derivatives as natural antioxidants for frying

Author
item Hwang, Hong-Sik
item Moser, Jill
item Liu, Sean

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/21/2021
Publication Date: 7/21/2021
Citation: Hwang, H., Moser, J.K., Liu, S.X. 2021. Amino acid derivatives as natural antioxidants for frying. Meeting Abstract. IFT Annual meeting & Food Expo 2021. July 18-24, 2021, Chicago, IL.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The deep-fat frying process, in which typically oil is repeatedly used at high temperatures (180-190 °C), deteriorates oil quality and produces potentially toxic oxidation products. Highly saturated oils such as palm oil are widely used for frying because they oxidize more slowly than vegetable oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. However, highly saturated oils are less desirable than vegetable oils containing high contents of unsaturated fatty acids for human health. One solution to this problem is to use strong antioxidants and synthetic antioxidants such as tert-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ) are widely used for frying. However, they are known to be potentially toxic to human. Therefore, tremendous efforts are being made to develop new natural antioxidants that can replace synthetic antioxidants. Recently, our research group found that amino acids were very strong natural antioxidants for frying. For example, amino acids including arginine, cysteine, lysine, methionine, and tryptophan at the concentration of 5.5 mM showed much stronger antioxidant activity than 200 ppm (1.1 mM) TBHQ in soybean oil at 180 °C. This study reports the improved antioxidant activity of amino acids by derivatization. Typically, amino acids with an extra amine, a thioether, or a thiol group had stronger activity than other amino acids. After the derivatization, amino acids without a functional group also showed strong activity. Preparation of derivatized amino acids will be discussed. The synergistic effect with tocopherols, the effect of different amino acid derivatives on retention of inherent tocopherols in soybean oil, interactions with other natural antioxidants such as rosemary extract, and the activity in other vegetable oils will be discussed. The improved antioxidant activity of amino acids will facilitate the practical application of these new antioxidants.