Performance of sunflower oil with high levels of oleic and palmitic acids during industrial frying of almonds, peanuts, and sunflower seeds

High-oleic, high-palmitic sunflower oil (HOHPSO) is a seed oil from a new mutant sunflower line characterized by increased levels of both oleic acid (>50%) and palmitic acid (>25%) and a high oxidative stability. In this study, its performance at frying temperature was compared with that of palm olein in thermoxidative assays (4 h, 180°C). Also, industrial discontinuous frying of almonds, peanuts, and sunflower seeds (200 kg of each product) was carried out to define both the performance of HOHPSO and the main changes undergone by the foods. The evaluation of polar compounds and their distribution in the main groups, i.e., polymers, oxidized monomers, and DAG, as well as changes in tocopherols and oxidative stability, demonstrated the excellent behavior of HOHPSO during thermoxidation and frying. The increase in polar compounds and the loss of tocopherols and stability were much lower for HOHPSO than for palm olein under identical heating conditions. Only 1.3% polar compounds were formed during industrial discontinuous frying for 4 h and the oil stability increased, probably due to the formation of antioxidant compounds. As for the foods, the FA composition of the surface oil was clearly different from that corresponding to the internal oil, the former denoting the presence of HOHPSO in high concentration, particularly in fried sunflower seeds. Changes in oil stability of the foods attributable to the frying process clearly demonstrate the interest in using a highly stable oil such as HOHPSO to protect the surface against oxidation durine food storage.This work was supported in part by research grants from Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (1FD97–1023; AGL 0505-2001) and Junta de Andalucía