Lipids: Their Role in the Formation of Endogenous Antioxidants during Food Processing

Lipids are important food nutrients and they also carry out other functions such as to be carriers of aromatic substances or to influence food texture, for example. However, polyunsaturated acids are also easily oxidised. In fact, oxidative rancidity of edible oils is a serious problem in the food industry. As an alternative to the use of synthetic antioxidants, the generation of endogenous antioxidants by carbonyl-amine reactions can be employed to increase food stability. These reactions are widely accepted to be produced as a consequence of Maillard reactions between carbohydrates and amino compounds. However, the contribution of lipid-derived carbonyl compounds to these reactions is much lesser known. This review discusses the role of lipid-derived antioxidants by analysing how they are formed and their antioxidative action.