Evaluating the effective factors for producing peroxide in the oil consumed in Iran

Peroxide is the immediate product of fatty materials oxidation. In general, the higher degree of unsaturated fat leads to greater amounts of fat or fatty materials for oxidation. Although the produced peroxide does not directly cause unpleasant taste and smell, it expedites the fat oxidation as a catalyst. Thus, the present research aimed to determine the effective factors for producing peroxide in fats.

This study was a case-experimental research. About 16 samples of consumed fat and 23 samples of unconsumed fat were sampled during three phases at different intervals at the end of the work, based on the National Standards and Industrial Research of Iran, No 493). The effects of parameters such as fat temperature, heating time, type of fat consumption, and the type of cooking utensil, were determined. The obtained samples were transferred to the Babol of food stuffs laboratory and the peroxide number of the fats was evaluated on the basis of National Standards and Industrial Research of Iran, No. 4179. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. The valuation of the peroxide index in the research revealed that a relationship exists between the amount of peroxide and temperature. This indicates that the amount of peroxide increased by increasing the temperature; however, no significant relationship was observed between them (p = 0.069). Moreover, a relationship was observed between the type of consumed oil and peroxide value; however, this relationship was not significant (p = 0.74). A significant relationship was found between the time of frying and the peroxide value (p = 0.001) and also between the peroxide value and the type of cooking utensil (p = 0.047). The results indicated that several factors such as temperature, time of frying, type of consumed oil, and type of utensil used, were effective in increasing the amount of the peroxide value.