2018 Volume 24 Issue 6 Pages 1017-1020
Vegetable oils have long been used in cooking. However, repeated heating at a high temperature results in the gradual deterioration of the vegetable oils through oxidative degradation of fatty acids, leading to the formation of undesirable and irritating odors (e.g., acrolein). Linolenic acid is the main source of the acrolein formed during the heating of vegetable oils. The present study has developed a method to reduce the formation of acrolein during repeated frying with vegetable oils. Electronic nose analysis showed that the formation of acrolein from low-linolenic oil such as extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) was much lower than from a linolenic-rich oil, salad oil, when frying French fries. Blending EVOO with salad oil effectively reduced the amount of acrolein formed during repeated frying. These results suggest that EVOO can be used to reduce the formation of acrolein when repeatedly heating foods in thermosensitive vegetable oils.