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Title: EFFECT OF GAMMA TOCOPHEROL ON THE FORMATION OF NONVOLATILE LIPID DEGRADATION PRODUCTS DURING THE FRYING OF POTATO CHIPS IN TRIOLEIN

Author
item Neff, William
item BYRDWELL, WILLIAM - FL ATLANTIC U, BOCA RATON
item Warner, Kathleen
item Eller, Fred

Submitted to: Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/20/2002
Publication Date: 2/20/2003
Citation: NEFF, W.E., BYRDWELL, W.C., WARNER, K.A., ELLER, F.J. EFFECT OF GAMMA TOCOPHEROL ON THE FORMATION OF NONVOLATILE LIPID DEGRADATION PRODUCTS DURING THE FRYING OF POTATO CHIPS IN TRIOLEIN. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN OIL CHEMISTS SOCIETY. 2003. v. 80. p. 620-625.

Interpretive Summary: Frying oils break down under the conditions commonly used for frying. It is important to not only study the degradation products in the fryer oil, but the degradation products formed in the oil absorbed by the fried food product. These degradation products can be precursors of the unpleasant odors associated with the fried food. By study and identification of the precursor degradation products formed by this simple oil, other breakdown products in more complicated oil mixtures can be identified by comparison. Then, oils can be produced which will resist formation of these products to the greatest extent possible. This will ultimately lead to consumer products which last longer on the shelf without going bad, and which withstand frying conditions better to give more healthful, better tasting fried foods.

Technical Abstract: The formation of undesirable odors and flavors during food processing operations is an important problem for the food industry. To determine the effect of gamma tocopherol on these negative attributes of fried food, potato chips were fried in triolein with 0, 100, or 400 ppm tocopherol levels. The absorbed triolein in the fried potato chips as well as the fryer oil were sampled for remaining tocopherol level and nonvolatile degradation products after frying at 190C. Reverse phase HPLC coupled to atmospheric pressure chemical ionization MS in tandem with electrospray MS (ES-MS) identified and assisted the quantization of many triolein degradation products with respect to tocopherol level found in the triolein absorbed in the fried potato chips as well as the fryer triolein. The mass spectrometric results showed that gamma tocopherol reduced the production of the nonvolatile degradation products in the triolein absorbed by the fried potato chips and the triolein fryer oil. The 400 ppm was more effective than the 100 ppm, which was more effective than the 0 ppm gamma tocopherol level in the reduction of nonvolatile degradation products. These nonvolatile compounds are known precursors of negative odors and flavor compounds produced during frying of foods.