Fatty Acid Composition and Flavor of Autoxidized Milk Fat

Typical flavors that developed during autoxidation of milk fat were not altered by deodorization, randomization, hydrolysis and resynthesis, or removal of unsaponifiables. This indicated that the flavor of autoxidized milk fat depends only on the fatty acid composition. Various synthetic mixtures of unsaturated fatty acids were interesterified into tridecanoin to see if they would reproduce the flavor of autoxidized milk fat. A mixture of 1.5% linoleic, 0.5% linolenic, and 0.2% arachidonic acids in tridecanoin satisfactorily reproduced the flavor typical of the early stages of autoxidation. A mixture of polyunsaturated fatty acids isolated from milk fat and incorporated into tridecanoin at the 3% level gave improved reproduction of the later stages of autoxidation in milk fat.