Evaluation of oxidative stability of new cold-pressed sunflower oils during accelerated thermal stability tests

Abstract Refined sunflower oil has dissimilar shelf life compared to cold-pressed sunflower oil, which increases the use of refined oil, and it is more abundant in the diet. On the other hand, the production of cold-pressed oils does not require chemical processing. Moreover, these oils contain significant amounts of bioactive components with a beneficial health effect. Breeders are trying to create new sunflower hybrids for the production of cold-pressed oil with improved oxidative characteristics. This study aims to examine the rancidity of 24 cold-pressed sunflower oils of new hybrids under accelerated thermal stability test conditions (Rancimat and Schaal oven tests) and to compare the obtained results with refined sunflower oil. According to investigated oxidative parameters, the most similar to refined sunflower oil was the H20 sample with the induction period determined by the Rancimat test of 9.55 ± 0.00 h, compared to 9.49 ± 0.00 h, obtained in refined sunflower oil. The total oxidation value of the H20 sample amounted to 3.26 ± 0.12, while in refined sunflower oil this value was 2.12 ± 1.73.