Secondary products of lipid oxidation.

In the last decade, a multitude of secondary products have been identified from the radical and photosensitized oxidations of polyunsaturated lipids. These secondary products consist of oxygenated monomeric materials including epoxy-hydroperoxides, oxo-hydroperoxides, hydroperoxy epidioxides, dihydroperoxides, hydroperoxy bis-epidioxides, and hydroperoxy bicycloendoperoxides. More recently, higher molecular weight dimeric compounds have been identified from autoxidized methyl linoleate and linolenate. Decomposition of these oxidation products form a wide range of carbonyl compounds, hydrocarbons, furans, and other materials that contribute to the flavor deterioration of foods and that are implicated in biological oxidation. The interaction of some of these degradation products with DNA may be involved in cell-damaging reactions.