Unsaturated fats undergo a process known as oxidation by which they are degraded into undesirable compounds. Therefore it is important for food manufacturers to employ antioxidant strategies. Crackers were used as a model in these studies because of their dietary contribution to saturated, and because the properties of crackers are translatable to other low moisture foods. The objective of this thesis was to determine if there was a significant variance in rates of oxidation between surface and total lipids in crackers and how solid fat content, synthetic antioxidants, and reduction of headspace oxygen affect those rates. It was hypothesized that lipids on the surface of a cracker would be more prone to oxidation than those on the interior. Experiments consisted of treatments to monitor total lipid oxidation and surface lipid oxidation. In the first experiment, crackers were formulated with soy oils of varying solid fat content. The second experiment monitored the effects of two synthetic antioxidants, BHT and TBHQ. The third experiment involved flushing the headspace of cracker storage vials with different blends of nitrogen and oxygen to inhibit lipid oxidation. Overall, significant differences did not exist in the rates of oxidation between surface and interior lipids. The lower the solid fat content of an oil, the more prone it was to oxidation. Antioxidants of greater hydrophobicity have increased efficacy in low moisture foods. Greater than 70% oxygen reduction is necessary to impart any antioxidant effect on crackers.

The body of literature on the impact of emulsion particle size on oxidation rates is unclear. This could be because emulsions are typically polydisperse and the oxidation rate of individual droplets is impossible to discern. Flow cytometry is a technique for studying individual cells and their subpopulations using fluorescence technologies. It is possible that individual emulsion droplets could also be characterized by flow cytometry as a novel approach for studying lipid oxidation. Typical emulsion droplets are too small to be visualized by flow cytometer, so emulsions were prepared to have droplets > 2 μm; weighting agent and xanthan gum were added to minimize creaming during storage. A radical-sensitive lipid-soluble fluorescence probe (BODIPY665/676) was added to the lipid used to prepare the emulsion so that the susceptibility of individual emulsion droplets could be determined. The results showed that in a polydisperse emulsion system, small droplets were oxidized faster than large droplets. Using mixtures of emulsions with and without prooxidants, it was possible to see the transfer of prooxidants between droplets, a process that is influenced by surfactant and salt concentrations. For example, surfactants micelles can transfer prooxidants to neighboring non-oxidized droplets and cause fluorescence loss when surfactant concentration was higher than critical micelle concentration (CMC). Transfer of prooxidants was promoted by adding NaCl and free fatty acid which could be attributed to the lower CMC. This study showed the potential for applying flow cytometry on oxidation of individual emulsion droplets.

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The objective of this study was to determine the effects of feeding endophyte-infected tall fescue seed to Angus steers on average daily gain, carcass characteristics, ergovaline concentration, lipid oxidation, hepatic enzyme activity, metmyoglobin reductase activity, and mitochondrial lipid composition. Animals were blocked into light, medium, and heavy body weight groups and were randomly assigned to either a KY31 seed treatment (6796 ppb ergovaline; 20 MUg/kg BW; E+; n = 6) or a KY32 control (< 100 ppb; E-; n = 6). There was a 2-way treatment × time interaction effect on ADG (P < 0.001). The E+ steers gained 0.56 kg/d less than the E- steers from d 0 to 14 (P < 0.001) until d 56 (ADG difference = 0.27 kg/d; P = 0.007) but both group had similar ADG from d 70 till the end of the feeding period 2 (ADG = 0.53 kg/d; P > 0.070). No difference in carcass characteristics were found between the E+ and E- steers by at the time of ultrasonography (P >= 0.120) or at harvest (P >= 0.199). In both period 1 and 2, there was a 2-way treatment × time interaction for ergovaline concentration in blood (P = 0.002 and 0.022, respectively). Infected tall fescue seed did not change d-3 hepatic enzyme activity in both feeding periods (P = 0.149 to 0.645). In period 1, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, primarily consisting of malondialdehyde (MDA), were greater in blood serum of E+ steers than E- steers (6.56 MUM vs. 2.56 MUM; P = 0.048). An overall increase in MDA from d 0 (2.39 MUM) to d 3 (7.59 MUM) was also observed (P = 0.049). There was no effect of endophyte infected tall fescue seed on metmyoglobin reductase in longissimus thoracis (4.82 MUM/min/g in E- muscle vs. 3.93 MUM/min/g in E+ muscle; P = 0.484. There was no treatment effect on mitochondrial lipid composition (P >= 0.094), including phospholipids and fatty acids.

Due to the limited number of approved antioxidants for food applications, several alternative strategies to improve antioxidant performance have been developed by focusing on synergistic antioxidant interactions. Susceptibility to lipid oxidation in food systems is the result of the summation of antioxidative and prooxidative mechanisms. Understanding the sometimes paradoxical behavior of antioxidants and prooxidants is a vital key to design synergistic antioxidant systems suitable for particular foods. This research focused on 3 main strategies to improve the performance of antioxidant activity in oil-in-water emulsions. The first part of this research has been focused on inhibition of lipid oxidation by a combination of the modification of liposomal surfaces by chitosan-coating techniques along with addition of rosmarinic acid esters of varying polarity. Repelling metal ions away from the interface of positively charged liposomes can inhibit lipid oxidation (induced by Fe2+), and also reduce antioxidant loss by Fe3+ reduction. As a result, lipid oxidation can be inhibited synergistically because of a reduction in the prooxidant activity of iron. Second, understanding non-linear antioxidant behavior (the cut-off effect) of antioxidant esters in oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions was also studied to determine how the distributions and locations of antioxidants impacted their antioxidant activity. Antioxidant activity of rosmarinic acid was improved by esterification with alkyl chain lengths between 4 to 12 carbons due to increased ability to partitioning at the interface in oil-in-water emulsions. Surfactant micelles which could increase or decreased the concentration of the antioxidants at the emulsion droplet interface altered antioxidant activity. In the last part of this research, rosmarinic acid and its esters were found to be an excellent tool for studying how antioxidant location could impact its ability to interact with α-tocopherol in O/W emulsions. Synergistic, additive, and antagonistic effects were observed in the combinations between the rosmarinate esters with α-tocopherol. Increases in alkyl chain lengths of rosmarinic acid have influenced both the partitioning of the rosmarinate esters as well as their ability to they interact with α-tocopherol at the interface of oil-in-water emulsions. Fluorescence quenching and EPR studies showed that water soluble rosmarinic acid (R0) exhibited more interactions with á-tocopherol than any of the esters (R4-R20). Synergistic antioxidant interactions between rosmarinic acid and α-tocopherol could not be explained by electron transfer mechanisms, but formation of caffeic acid from rosmarinic acid. Due to the thermodynamic infeasibility and the fact that increases in α-tocopherol degradation rates, α-tocopherol could not be regenerated efficiently by rosmarinic acid. This formation of caffeic acid was proposed to be responsible of the synergistic activity of R0 and α-tocopherol since the formation of an additional antioxidant could further increase the oxidative stability of the emulsion.

The combination of water and surface active compounds found naturally in commercially refined vegetable oils have been postulated to form physical structures known as association colloids. This research studied the ability of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) and water to form physical structures in stripped soybean oil. Interfacial tension and fluorescence spectrometry results showed the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of DOPC in stripped soybean oil was 650 and 950 microM, respectively. Light scattering attenuation results indicated that the structure formed by DOPC was reverse micelles. The physical properties of DOPC reverse micelles were determined using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and fluorescence probes. These studies showed that increasing the water concentration altered the size and shape of the reverse micelles formed by DOPC. The impact of DOPC reverse micelles on the lipid oxidation of stripped soybean oil was investigated by following the formation of primary and secondary lipid oxidation products. DOPC reverse micelles had a prooxidant effect, shortening the oxidation lag phase of SSO at 55 °C. It also was not able to change the lipid oxidation of stripped soybean oil compared with DOPC reverse micelles at same concemtration ( i.e., 950 microM). 1,2-dibutyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphocholine (DC4PC) which has the shorter fatty acid than DOPC was not able to form association colloids and did not impact lipid oxidation rates. This indicated that the choline group of the phospholipid was not responsible for the increased oxidation rates and suggested that the physical structure formed by DOPC was responsible for the prooxidant effect. The impact of the DOPC reverse micelles on the effectiveness and physical location of the antioxidants, alpha-tocopherol and Trolox was also studied. Both non-polar (alpha-tocopherol) and polar (Trolox) were able to inhibit lipid oxidation in stripped soybean oil in the presence of DOPC reverse micelles. Trolox was a more effective antioxidant than alpha-tocopherol. Fluorescence steady state and lifetime decay studies suggested that both alpha-tocopherol and Trolox were associated with DOPC reverse micelle in bulk oil. Trolox primarily concentrated in the water pool of reverse micelle since it quenched NBD-PE fluorescence intensity with increasing concentrations. A portion of alpha-tocopherol was also associated with the aqueous phase of the DOPC reverse micelles but this was likely at the oil-water interface since alpha-tocopherol is not water soluble. The addition of ferric chelator, deferoxamine (DFO) to stripped soybean oil significantly prevented the lipid oxidation caused by DOPC reverse micelles as the lag phase was extended from 2 to 7 days. DFO was also found to increase the antioxidant activity of both Trolox and alpha-tocopherol. Trolox and alpha-tocopherol were found to be rapidly decomposed by high-valence Fe(III) while low-valence-state (Fe (II) was much less reactive. Fe(III) was also consumed by both hydrophilic Trolox and lipophilic alpha-tocopherol presumably though reduction to Fe (II). DOPC reverse micelles were able to decrease antioxidants-iron interactions as evidence by a decrease in antioxidant depletion by iron and a decrease in iron reduction by the antioxidants. These results suggested that the ability of DFO to increase the antioxidant activity of alpha-tocopherol and Trolox was due to its ability to decrease free radical production and not its ability to decrease direct iron-antioxidant interactions. Overall, the results presented in this dissertation show phospholipids and water can form reverse micelles in edible oils. These reverse micelles increase lipid oxidation rates by increasing the prooxidant activity of iron. Free radical scavenging antioxidants can inhibit oxidation promoted by the reverse micelles with polar Trolox being more effective than non-polar alpha-tocopherol presumably because Trolox is more highly associated with the reverse micelle. The reverse micelles produced by DOPC protected alpha-tocopherol and Trolox from direct degradation by iron. The knowledge gained from this study will improve our understanding of the mechanism of lipid oxidation in bulk oils which will hopefully provide new technologies to improve the oxidation stability of edible oils. For example, it may be able to use oil refining technologies to remove prooxidative minor components that for physical structure in bulk oils.

Even though edible oils undergo refining processes to remove undesirable components, commercial oils still contain small amounts of minor components that can contribute to either prooxidant and antioxidant pathways which ultimately affect the quality of the oils. The objective of this research was to determine the role of free fatty acids and mono- and diacylglycerols on the oxidative stability of oil-in-water emulsions. Free fatty acids acted as a strong prooxidants in stripped soybean oil-in-water emulsions. Concentrations as low as 0.1% of the lipid accelerated lipid oxidation rate by both shortening the lag phase of lipid hydroperoxide and hexanal formation. The results showed that the most likely mechanisms for the prooxidant activity of free fatty acids is through their ability to increase the negatively charge on emulsion droplets that in turn could attract the cationic transition metals to the emulsion droplet surface where they can interact with lipid and thus promote oxidation. The prooxidant activity of free fatty acids was dependent on fatty acid type with lipid oxidation rates being in the order of linolenic < linoleic < oleic. Surprisingly, an increase in the degree of unsaturation of the free fatty viii acids lowered the ability of the free fatty acids to promote oxidation which may be due to their differences in geometric shape thus influencing their ability to access the emulsion droplet interface and increase the negative charge. Overall, free fatty acids are strong prooxidants in oil-in-water emulsions. This prooxidant activity is dependent not only on their concentration but also on the molecular structure of the fatty acid. Addition of mono- and diacylglycerols in oil-in-water emulsions showed an antioxidative effect in both non-stripped and stripped soybean oil. Addition of 1-monooleoylglycerol only had a small impact on the oxidative stability of non-stripped soybean oil-in-water emulsions but did inhibit lipid oxidation in emulsions prepared with stripped soybean. Much stronger antioxidant activity was observed upon the addition of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycerol to both non-stripped and stripped soybean oil-in-water emulsions. Both lipid hydroperoxide and hexanal formation decreased with increasing 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycerol concentrations with 2.5% 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycerol almost completely preventing hydroperoxide and hexanal production over the course of the study. Overall, these results suggest that diacylglycerols could be an effective antioxidant in oil-in-water emulsions which possibility due to their ability to form a liquid crystal phase which could form a physical barrier that decreases interactions between unsaturated fatty acids in the emulsion droplet core and prooxidants or oxygen in the aqueous phase of the emulsion. However, the antioxidant mechanism of diacylglycerols is not currently understood and needs further investigation.

Phospholipids, such as phosphatidylserine (PS) have been shown to work synergistically with tocopherols to extend the shelf life of oil-in-water emulsions. However, the high cost of PS prevents it from being used as a food additive. This work investigated the potential use of a high PS enzyme-modified lecithin to be used along with α-tocopherol to extend the lag phase of oil-in-water emulsions stabilized using Tween 20. Phospholipase D from Streptomyces sp. and L-serine were used to modify lecithin to increase PS concentration. Enzyme activity was optimized as a function of pH and temperature using a high PC soybean lecithin. The high PS modified lecithin was examined for its ability to enhance the activity of α-tocopherol in Tween 20-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions. The modification was also performed in high PC sunflower lecithin and egg lecithin which were later analyzed for their efficiency in controlling lipid oxidation. α-Tocopherol (3.0 µmol/kg emulsion) alone increased the lag phase of hydroperoxide and hexanal lag phases by 3 and 4 days compared to the control. Authentic PS (15.0 µmol/kg emulsion) increased hydroperoxide and hexanal lag phases by 1 and 3 days, respectively, whereas high PS soy lecithin increased hydroperoxide and hexanal lag phases by 3 and 4 days, respectively. The addition of high PS sunflower and egg lecithin did not have any considerable effects on lag phases compared to the control. Authentic PS (15.0 µmol/kg emulsion) and a-tocopherol (3.0 µmol/kg emulsion) decreased lipid oxidation by increasing the hydroperoxide and hexanal lag phase to 6 and 9 days. The combination of phospholipase D modified high PS lecithins (15.0 µmol/kg emulsion) and a-tocopherol (3.0 µmol/kg emulsion) were able to synergistically increase the antioxidant activity of a-tocopherol increasing the hydroperoxide and hexanal lag phase by 6 and 9 days for soy, 5 days, and 7 days for sunflower and 4 and 6 days for egg lecithin, respectively. This resulted in synergistic antioxidant activity (interaction index > 1.0) except for a-tocopherol and high PS Egg lecithin which showed an additive effect. This research shows that the combination of enzyme-modified high PS lecithin and α-tocopherol could be an effective and commercially viable clean label antioxidant strategy to control lipid oxidation in emulsions.

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No description available.