Chemical composition, oxidative stability, and sensory properties of Boerhavia elegana Choisy (alhydwan) seed oil/peanut oil blends

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of blending alhydwan seed oil and peanut oil as a way of enhancing the stability and chemical characteristics of plant seed oils and to discover more innovative foods of high nutraceutical value which can be used in other food production systems. Alhydwan seed oil and peanut oil blended at proportions of 10:90, 20:80, 30:70, 40:60 and 50:50 (v/v) were evaluated according to their physicochemical properties, including refractive index, relative density, saponification value, peroxide value, iodine value, free fatty acids, oxidative stability index, and tocopherol contents using various standard and published methods. At room temperature, all of the oil blends were in the liquid state. The physicochemical profiles of the blended oils showed significant decreases (p < 0.05) in peroxide value (6.97-6.02 meq O2/kg oil), refractive index at 25 °C (1.462-1.446), free fatty acids (2.29-1.71%), and saponification value (186.44-183.77 mg KOH/g), and increases in iodine value and relative density at 25 °C (98.10-102.89 and 0.89-0.91, respectively), especially with an analhydwan seed oil to peanut oil ratio of 10:90. Among the fatty acids, oleic and linoleic acids were most abundant in the 50:50 and 10:90 alhydwan seed oil to peanut oil blends, respectively. Oxidative stability increased as the proportion of alhydwan oil increased. In terms of tocopherol contents (γ, δ, and α), γ-tocopherol had the highest values across all of the blended proportions, followed by δ-tocopherol. The overall acceptability was good for all blends. The incorporation of alhydwan seed oil into peanut oil resulted in inexpensive, high-quality blended oil that may be useful in health food products and pharmaceuticals without compromising sensory characteristics.