The use of infrared spectroscopy in the study of fats and oils is reviewed. The importance of the mid‐infrared region in the study of lipids is shown. Differences between dispersive and Fourier‐transform infrared techniques are commented on and the experimental methods used in the handling of oil and fat samples are reported. The assignment of oil and fat bands of mid‐infrared spectra is made, and the usefulness of this technique to characterise oils and fats and to detect adulterations is reviewed. The application of spectroscopic data to determine the degree of unsaturation or iodine value, trans‐ double bonds content, free fatty acid content, average chain length or saponification number, solid fat content, as well as peroxide and anisidine values, is commented on. Also, the importance of this technique for monitoring oxidation processes is shown. © 1997 SCI.

Fourteen samples of edible oils and lard have been studied by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The spectra were recorded from a film of pure oil or lard between two discs of KBr. The bands of the spectra were assigned to different functional group vibrations. The frequencies of some bands have constant values, independent of the nature of the sample. However, frequencies of other bands, some of them in the fingerprint region, depend greatly on the sample composition. Equations obtained from frequency of these bands and composition data are valuable to predict the proportions of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated acyl groups in oils and lard.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a family of toxicants that are ubiquitous in the environment. These contaminants generate considerable interest, because some of them are highly carcinogenic in laboratory animals and have been implicated in breast, lung, and colon cancers in humans. These chemicals commonly enter the human body through inhalation of cigarette smoke or consumption of contaminated food. Of these two pathways, dietary intake of PAHs constitutes a major source of exposure in humans. Although many reviews and books on PAHs have been published, factors affecting the accumulation of PAHs in the diet, their absorption following ingestion, and strategies to assess risk from exposure to these hydrocarbons following ingestion have received much less attention. This review, therefore, focuses on concentrations of PAHs in widely consumed dietary ingredients along with gastrointestinal absorption rates in humans. Metabolism and bioavailability of PAHs in animal models and the processes, which influence the disposition of these chemicals, are discussed. The utilitarian value of structure and metabolism in predicting PAH toxicity and carcinogenesis is also emphasized. Finally, based on intake, disposition, and tumorigenesis data, the exposure risk to PAHs from diet, and contaminated soil is presented. This information is expected to provide a framework for refinements in risk assessment of PAHs from a multimedia exposure perspective.

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Abstract1H NMR spectra of 66 samples of edible oils from 14 different botanical origins were acquired. Assignment of signal spectra to the different types of hydrogen atoms was made and the areas of the signals determined. Considering that the area of the signals of the spectra is proportional to the number of hydrogen atoms of each type in the sample, it is possible to calculate not only the iodine value, but also the proportion of different acyl groups from the data. Determination of both parameters requires only a few minutes and one spectroscopic run. Classical methodology however, requires two separate wet methods for determining the unsaturation degree (iodine value) and the proportions of different acyl groups; both of them involve chemical transformations of the sample and considerable time and cost. Determination of acyl group proportions in samples by 1H NMR, which was validated with mixtures of standard triglycerides, provides accurate results and is able to detect small differences between samples of very similar composition.

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This review summarizes present-day knowledge provided by proton nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H NMR) concerning food lipid thermo-oxidative degradation. The food lipids considered include edible oils and fats of animal and vegetable origin. The thermo-oxidation processes of food lipids of very different composition, occurring at low, intermediate, or high temperatures, with different food lipid surfaces exposed to oxygen, are reviewed. Mention is made of the influence of both food lipid nature and degradative conditions on the thermo-oxidation process. Interest is focused not only on the evolution of the compounds that degrade, but also on the intermediate or primary oxidation compounds formed, as well as on the secondary ones, from both qualitative and quantitative points of view. Very valuable qualitative and quantitative information is provided by 1 H NMR, which can be useful for metabolomic and lipidomic studies. The chemical shift assignments of spectral signals of protons of primary (hydroperoxides and hydroxides associated with conjugated dienes) and secondary, or further (aldehydes, epoxides, among which 9,10-epoxy-12-octadecenoate [leukotoxin] can be cited, alcohols, ketones) oxidation compounds is summarized. It is worth noting the ability of 1 H NMR to detect toxic oxygenated α,β-unsaturated aldehydes, like 4-hydroperoxy-, 4,5-epoxy-, and 4-hydroxy-2-alkenals, which can be generated in the degradation of food lipids having omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated groups in both biological systems and foodstuffs. They are considered as genotoxic and cytotoxic, and are potential causative agents of cancer, atherosclerosis, and Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

The oxidation process of 13 edible oil samples with different proportions of oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acyl groups has been studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The oxidation experiments were carried out by heating the samples in a convection oven at 70 degrees C. Duplicate spectra were recorded from a film of pure oil between two disks of KBr for each sample every day during the course of the oxidation, and frequency data of each band of the spectrum were collected automatically. Changes in the values of the frequency of most of the bands of the spectra were observed. The shiftings of the frequency value of specific bands allowed one to distinguish between the different stages of the oxidation process and to establish the oxidation degree of each oil sample. This methodology could be useful to evaluate the oxidative stability of edible oils in a simple, fast, and accurate way.