30A-30 |
Effect of packaging and light exposure on vitamin A stability in fortified vegetable oil |
Y. KAKUDA1, H. Smadi1, K. Gao, V. Abraham, and L. Laleye. (1) Dept. of Food Science, Univ. of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada Vitamin A deficiency affects an estimated 40 million people in developing countries and is the most common cause of childhood blindness. One way to deliver important nutrients to needy individuals is by the fortification of commonly consumed food products. The fortification of vegetable oils with retinyl palmitate was considered to be a viable intervention strategy for vitamin A. The objectives of this research were to determine the storage stability of vitamin A in fortified soybean oil as a function of packaging material, temperature and exposure to light. 180 IU retinyl palmitate, RBD soybean oil, five temperatures ( 40, 36, 32.5, 28, and 25 degree Celsius), three packaging materials (polyethylene terephthalate PET, polyvinylchloride PVC, and high density polyethylene HDPE) and exposure to light and dark conditions were used as factors in the experimental design. The concentration of vitamin A was determined by HPLC. The results revealed that the major factors affecting vitamin A stability was exposure to light and the type of packaging material. After 37 days of storage in clear PET bottles, the levels of vitamin A dropped to 17-33% when exposed to light. Those same samples when stored in brown PET bottles and exposed to light retained 72 to 88% of the vitamin A. When completely protected from light, the vitamin A in the clear and brown PET bottles was very stable (81 to 91% vitamin A remained after 6 months of storage). Similar results were obtained with the clear PVC, opaque HDPE and brown HDPE bottles. The clear and opaque bottles showed rapid loss in vitamin A (13 to 36% remained) when exposed to light for 49 days while the brown HDPE bottles retained 79 to 88% vitamin A after 3 months. Vegetable oil is an effective carrier for vitamin A and will retain high potency if protected from light or packaged in non transparent plastics containers.
Session 30A, Food Chemistry: Lipids
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