[An objective index of quality and prognostication of the storage time for cod liver oil].

Through a series of tests an objective indicator of the degree of the cod oil oxidation-the content of aldehydes reacting with benzidine-has been established. Mathematic processing of experimental data helped determine the limits of the aldehydes content in the oil of different quality, while the maximum permissible standards were fixed following biological tests carried out by the Institute of Nutrition of the AMS of the USSR. These data and investigations into the quality of the oil during its preparation and subsequent storage under different conditions formed a background to be establishing maximum permissible content of aldehydes in the half-finished and final products. Through experiments there were found the increment of aldehydes and the fall of the A-vitamin activity over a storage period of one month in large bottles of 9 1 capacity at temperatures of 10+/-2 and 20+/-2 degrees. The available data enabled it to deduce a formula for fixing approximate storage periods for medicinal oil both on shipment from the production site and at the time of control checking of its quality. The maximum permissible content of aldehydes in the medicinal oil and the method of establishing storage time are recommended to be included into the corresponding intem of the state standards-GOST, or in the pharmacopeia.