Thermal decomposition of 13-hydroperoxyoctadeca-9,11-dienoic acid yields hydrocarbons as part of the scission products. Pentane is formed predominately and to the practical exclusion of all other short-chain hydrocarbons.
As part of their thermal decomposition products, fatty hydroperoxides produce normal hydrocarbons. The extent of hydrocarbon formation can be measured and associated with the quality and potential stability of an oil. Edible oils containing linoleic acid develop 13hydroperoxy-9,11-octadecadienoic acid as one product of autoxidation. On thermal decomposition this hydroperoxide yields pentane; the amount released has been correlated with the flavor scores of fresh and aged soybean and cottonseed oils and with the peroxide values of these oils. The quantity of pentane released has an inverse linear relationship to flavor score and a direct linear relationship to peroxide values. Edible oils exposed to light exhibit a different relationship between flavor score and thermally derived pentane than do the same oils when autoxidized in the dark.
Volatile hydrocarbons representative of those in autoxidizing fats were analyzed on a single column of activated alumina by gas‐solid adsorption chromatography (GSC). Mixtures of C1 to C8 paraffins anda‐olefins were readily separated from one another, and from several branched hydrocarbons in less than 40 min. Semilog plots of carbon number versus log retention time for these individual mixtures indicate that good separations may be expected when all components are present simultaneously. Alumina is a unique chromatographic substrate for these separations. Since no liquid phase is employed, wide temperature ranges may be applied, column bleeding is eliminated and the system becomes ideal for temperature programming even on single column instruments. This system of GSC offers a convenient and direct method for hydrocarbon analysis since more polar materials such as aldehydes, ketones and esters are irreversibly adsorbed on alumina. It shows promise not only for the analysis of volatiles in the flavor evaluation of edible oils, but also as an aid in solving many other food and biological problems.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.