Synergistic antioxidative effects of tocopherol and ascorbic acid in fish oil/lecithin/water system

Abstract

Abstract Individual and combined effects of ascorbic acid and δ ‐tocopherol on the autoxidation of fish oil have been evaluated with the induction period monitored by Rancimat. The antioxidative efficiency of them was found to increase with increasing concentration. δ ‐Tocopherol and ascorbic acid acted highly synergistic with each other. When δ ‐tocopherol content was varied at a fixed content of ascorbic acid, the synergistic efficiency was generally 100% or more. On the other hand, when ascorbic acid content was varied at a fixed content of δ ‐tocopherol, the synergistic efficiency rose sigmoidally with increasing concentration. We concluded that at least 0.01–0.02% ascorbic acid is required to obtain a considerable synergistic effect with δ ‐tocopherol in stabilizing fish oil.