Abstract:
Edible plant oils play a vital role in daily diets of people worldwide. Stability
against oxidation is the major factor limiting the application of most edible plant
oils for cooking and processing. Most native plant oils vary greatly in their
stability to oxidation depending on their composition. Oxidative stability of
edible plant oils has been extensively studied to find out the ways of improving
their stability against oxidation to widen their application. Synthetic antioxidants
are effective to improve the oxidative stability of these oils, however, recently,
following the evidences on possible toxicities of synthetic antioxidants, the use of
natural plant sources as antioxidant is gaining interest. In addition, modification
of composition of the oils through genetic modification is another successful
means to improve the oxidative stability of these oils. This chapter focuses on the
mechanism and factors of oxidation and ways of improving oxidative stability of
oils.
