Application of <i>Lavandula officinalis</i> L. antioxidant of essential oils in shelf life of confectionary

Abstract

Chemically synthesized compounds such as butylated hydroxy-anisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are used as antioxidants in food products. The safety of some of these compounds have been a great concern. So, there is a great interest in finding antioxidants from natural sources for food. Lipids, known as Lavandula officinalis L. in this work, harvested in the north of Iran was distilled in a Clevenger apparatus to obtain essential oil, which was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spetrophotometry (MS). Antioxidant activity of essential oil was evaluated by peroxide value, iodine value and conjugated dienes. Also, the influence of this antioxidant on the shelf life of the confection’s type was investigated. As a result, 1,8-cineole and borneol were the most used components in the chemical analysis of essential oils. Free fatty acid from the 1st to 9th week was increased significantly and as such, peroxide value increased directly with storage time. Variation of both synthetic and natural antioxidant in the aspect of iodine values was reduced slowly. However, conjugated dienes changes in oil sample containing essential oil and the BHA still remains the same.

Keywords: Antioxidant, Lavandula officinalis L., GC-MS, peroxide value, iodine value