CONSUMER ACCEPTABILITY STUDIES IN SHELF-LIFE ESTIMATION OF RAPESEED AND SUNFLOWER OILS

Shelf-life of plant oils is determined by oxidative stability. The consumers use their own criterion to assess oil's quality. The occurrence of perceptible changes in oxidized food provides information that the product is no longer safe and should not be accepted. The present study was aimed to determine the shelf-life of rapeseed and sunflower oils in terms of consumer acceptance. The results of sensory consumer acceptability tests followed by survival analysis were integrated with conventional chemical marker of oils' quality and shelf-life (peroxide value). The important finding is that consumers sometimes do not recognize the advanced oxidative processes in food. This may increase the safety risk because of the harmful effect of oxidative processes on human health. Consumers differentiated quality of oils with similar state of oxidation: the rapeseed oil with peroxide value on the level 5 meq O-2 kg(-1) was rejected by three quarters of consumers, sunflower - by only 3%. It proves that the consumer perception of oxidative changes is specific to the product and does not coincide with the accepted chemical criterion of shelf-life.