Abstract (eng)
Consumption of cold pressed oils, which are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) is considered healthy. However, these oils are characterized by their low oxidative stability, leading to the formation of lipid oxidation products. Natural antioxidants, such as tocopherols and polyphenols, can inhibit lipid oxidation by scavenging free radicals, chelating metals or inactivating photosensitizers and lipoxygenase. Cold-pressed oils are rich in these bioactive substances, which can improve the oxidative stability and therefore the quality of these oils.
The aim of this study was to analyse the tocopherols and polyphenols along the value chain of different cold-pressed oils. The value chain includes the harvested oilseeds, the cold pressed oils and the press cake. It was also aimed to investigate the effects of natural antioxidants on lipid oxidation in seeds, press cakes and oils. During this study, flaxseed-, hemp- and safflower oils were analysed, since these cold pressed oils are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids but their content of polyphenols is low.
It could be shown that the majority of polyphenols remained in the press cake after cold-pressing. Only a small amount was transferred into the cold-pressed oils. Compared to hemp and flax, the highest concentration of polyphenols was analysed for safflower seeds (532,6 ± 61,4 mg GAE/100 g seeds), safflower press cake (616,4 ± 25,6 mg GAE/100 g seeds) and safflower oil (0,82 ± 0,11 mg GAE/100 g seeds).
The concentration of α-tocopherol was the highest in all press cakes compared to seeds and cold-pressed oils. The highest amount of α-tocopherol was analysed for safflower seeds (1198,0 ± 88,6 µg/ml oil), safflower press cake (1938,1 ± 48,5 µg/ml oil) and safflower oil (563,1 ±43,4 µg/ml oil) compared to hemp and flax. For flax and hemp, the highest content of γ-tocopherol was found in cold-pressed flaxseed oil (563,1 ±43,4 µg/ml oil) and hemp seed oil (1072,5 ± 80,2 µg/ml oil) compared to seeds and press cake. For safflower and flax, the highest amount of δ-tocopherol was found in the press cakes and for hemp the highest amount was found in the oil.
In addition, two different markers for lipid oxidation, namely peroxide value and hexanal, were analysed. According to the peroxide value, all oils, seeds and press cakes fulfilled the requirements set by the Codex Alimentarius (2012)(< 10 mEq O2/kg). Compared to seeds and press cakes, a significant higher peroxide value was obtained for the cold-pressed oils. The results of this thesis showed a significant negative correlation between the content of polyphenols and the peroxide value for the analysed seeds and cold-pressed oils. Of all analysed varieties, safflower oil had the lowest peroxide value (2,5 ±0,9 mEq O2/kg oi) and the highest concentration of polyphenols (0,82 ± 0,11 mg GAE/100 g seeds).
Similar results were obtained with regard to the hexanal content. Compared to the seeds and press cakes, the highest amount of hexanal was detected in all analysed cold-pressed oils. The detected concentrations for flaxseed oil, hemp seed oil and safflower seed oil were 0,33 ±0,07 µg/ml, 2,22 ± 1,40 µg/ml and 2,58 ± 0,74µg/ml, respectively.
In conclusion, the results of this study showed that most of the natural antioxidants, in particular polyphenols, retained in the press cake after cold pressing. However, during pressing some tocopherol homologs, mainly γ-tocopherol, were extracted very well. The lipid oxidation markers were highest in the cold-pressed oils, which could be due to the low polyphenol content. As the concentration of polyphenols in the seeds and oils increased, their peroxide value decreased. Along the value chain of cold-pressed oils a significant negative correlation between the content of polyphenols and the oxidative stability of seeds and oils could be shown.