Antioxidants: Science, Technology, and Applications

Abstract

Antioxidants are compounds that are employed to enhance shelf life and preserve the quality of fats and oils and lipid‐containing foods by suppressing oxidation reactions of their unsaturated components. These compounds could be naturally present, deliberately added, or generated during processing. Antioxidants are needed in small quantities to participate or interfere in the lipid autoxidation reaction cascade via various mechanisms. They should not impart any undesirable characters to the food, they should be stable, and they should be nontoxic. Application of these antioxidation differs depending on the nature of the food, conditions of intended processing, and storage. However, antioxidants that are deliberately added to foods are thoroughly scrutinized for their safety and toxicology aspects. Their usage in food is regulated under different legislatures in various countries. This chapter examines the purpose of antioxidant use, chemistry of antioxidant activity, and natural synthetic compounds that exert antioxidative activity in foods, as well as the relevant technological, toxicological, and regulatory considerations.

Green tea extract: Chemistry, antioxidant properties and food applications – A review

“…Extracts of immature tea leaves are rich in flavanols and their gallic acid derivatives, namely, (+)-catechin, (À)-epicatechin, (+)-gallocatechin, (À)-epicatechin gallate, (À)-epigallocatechin, and (À)-epigallocatechin gallate (Wanasundara & Shahidi, 2005). In addition, they contain a range of natural green tea flavour components such as terpenes, oxygenated terpenes, sesquiterpenes, and organic acids.…”

Release of synthetic phenolic antioxidants from extruded poly lactic acid (PLA) film

“…Limitations of direct addition of antioxidants to foods include specific limit of activity due to their participation in complex reactions in food systems, and lack of selectivity to target the food surface where most oxidative reactions occur (Gemili, Yemenicioglu, & Altinkaya, 2010). The most applied synthetic phenolic antioxidants (SPAs) in food products include butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), propyl gallate (PG), tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) (Wanasundara & Shahidi, 2005).…”

CUPRAC assay-guided profiling of antioxidant compounds in methanol extract of Lentinus squarrosulus Mont. mycelium

“…Therefore, external sources of antioxidants from the diet are needed to compensate this unbalance situation. In most countries, strict governmental rules regarding the use of synthetic antioxidants has been imposed due to safety concerns associated with the toxicity studies (Wanasundara and Shahidi, 2005). Thus, exploring for natural antioxidant is necessary.…”