Rapid quantitation of thermal oxidation products in fats and oils by 1H-NMR spectroscopy.

This work describes the application of high-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy to the study of the thermal peroxidation of beef tallow and corn oil under standardized conditions. The approach provides a rapid, quantitative method for determining the degree of oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids in animal and vegetable fats and oils by quantitating the decreasing intensities of 1H-NMR peaks for allylic and olefinic protons in unsaturated fatty acid chains of triglycerides and the increasing peak intensities of hydroperoxide and saturated and alpha, beta-unsaturated aldehydic protons in relation to the less labile protons in the triglyceride molecule. Two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy analysis of highly oxidized beef tallow (180 degrees C for 24 h) suggested that the unsaturated aldehydes that persisted were apparently associated with carboxy groups.