Thermal stability of avocado oil: A comparative study with rice bran and olive oils

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the thermal stability of avocado oil (Breda variety) compared to olive and rice bran oils. The oils were heated to a temperature of 180 ºC for 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0 h in a digester block. The evaluations performed were: acidity, indices of peroxides, iodine, p-anisidine, refraction, electrical conductivity, specific extinction coefficients, phenolic compounds, chlorophylls, carotenoids, and antioxidant activity of the samples. Changes in the evaluated parameters were found as a function of the heating time. In general, olive oil was found to be more stable, followed by avocado oil. However, the avocado oil showed good maintenance of characteristics when subjected to heating. This work has shown that avocado oil is very similar to olive oil and that both show considerable stability after heating at the usual temperature of the frying process.