Lipid Oxidation

Book excerpt: In this second edition, Edwin Frankel has updated and extended his now well-known book Lipid oxidation which has come to be regarded as the standard work on the subject since the publication of the first edition seven years previously. His main objective is to develop the background necessary for a better understanding of what factors should be considered, and what methods and lipid systems should be employed, to achieve suitable evaluation and control of lipid oxidation in complex foods and biological systems. The oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids is one of the most fundamental reactions in lipid chemistry. When unsaturated lipids are exposed to air, the complex, volatile oxidation compounds that are formed cause rancidity. This decreases the quality of foods that contain natural lipid components as well as foods in which oils are used as ingredients. Furthermore, products of lipid oxidation have been implicated in many vital biological reactions, and evidence has accumulated to show that free radicals and reactive oxygen species participate in tissue injuries and in degenerative disease. Although there have been many significant advances in this challenging field, many important problems remain unsolved. This second edition of Lipid oxidation follows the example of the first edition in offering a summary of the many unsolved problems that need further research. The need to understand lipid oxidation is greater than ever with the increased interest in long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, the reformulation of oils to avoid hydrogenation and trans fatty acids, and the enormous attention given to natural phenolic antioxidants, including flavonoids and other phytochemicals.