Natural antioxidants to improve stability of refined anchovy oil against oxidation

The oxidation stability of fish oil containing omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which is very susceptible to oxidative deterioration, needs to be improved before it can be successfully applied to functional foods. The antioxidant activities of 17 species of materials in anchovy oil (AO) were compared and a potent antioxidant was determined to improve the shelf-life of refined AO. Antioxidant activities of the 0.05% (w/w) materials in AO were compared against control during storage at 30 degrees C for 10 days. While no antioxidant effect was shown in alpha tocopherol against control, 3 species of grapefruit seed extracts (GSEs), astaxanthin (AX), soybean lecithin, and green tea extract showed good antioxidant activities. Especially, GSE B, GSE C, and AX showed significantly high peroxide inhibitory activities (PIAs) of 16.2 +/- 2.1, 20.+/- 3.5, and 17.7 +/- 3.5%, respectively, after the 4th day (p<0.01). Radical scavenging activities (RSAs) of GSE B, GSE C, and AX were 85.1 +/- 0.8, 95.3 +/- 0.3, and 85.9 +/- 0.8%, respectively. Correlation between PIAs and RSAs was high (R-2=0.926) in GSE B, GSE C, and AX. Therefore, we concluded that one of the main antioxidative mechanisms of GSEs and AX must operate through an RSA pathway. The RC50 (concentration required for 50% reduction of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl,DPPH) of GSE C was 258 mu g/mL.