Effect of addition of rice bran oil extract on the stability of sunflower oil, sesame oil and their blends

The present study investigates the effect of exposure at elevated temperature (60°C) on the stability of edible oils i.e. sunflower oil, sesame oil and their blends in various proportions of 20:80, 50:50 80:20 v/v, with and without addition of antioxidants on the basis of acid value, peroxide value and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value changes. Tocotrienol rich fraction (TRF) extracted from crude rice bran oil was used as a source of natural antioxidant. Addition of TRF at the optimum level to edible oils was observed to show better stability compared to oils without TRF. The optimum level of TRF activity was measured to be 5 μl/g oil. Considering the combined beneficial effects of sunflower and sesame oil, the blend of these two oils (50:50 v/v) with TRF has been found to be the best. Hence, the stability of edible oil could be enhanced by blending and addition of natural antioxidant.