Simple way to test antioxidants

Antioxidants - such as BHA, BHT, vitamin C and vitamin E - are used to process fats and oils, particularly to protect edible fats from oxidative spoilage. They are also used to stabilise foodstuffs containing oxidation sensitive vitamins, amino acids and unsaturated fatty acids.

However, as an antioxidant is effective only at the surface of a finished product, its addition is not always enough. That's why Metrohm has designed a tool to measure the stability of a new or existing antioxidant stabiliser.

The Rancimat is a measuring arrangement with two separately controlled heating blocks, each with up to four disposable reaction vessels. Up to four instruments can be run by a single PC, which means it is possible to run 32 samples at eight different temperatures in parallel. It works by blowing a stream of air through a heated sample, whose volatile oxidation products are transferred into a vessel containing de-ionised water that measures conductivity.

It enables the correct choice of stabiliser to be determined.

Metrohm UK Tel: 01280 824824