Investigating the potential of Vietnamese tea seed oil (Camellia sinensis O.Kuntze) for the enhancement of oxidative stability in vegetable oils

ctions in the 
TOTOX values of SFO (58%), followed by 
those of RSO (47%), SBO (40%), and PNO 
(23.5%). In RSO, there was no significant 
difference in the TOTOX value changes 
resulting from the additions of α-tocopherol, 
3% TSO, and 6% TSO. 
a
a
a
a
b
b
b
b
c
c
c c
d
d
d c
e
e
e c
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
PV (Meq/kg)
sample
SB
O
.4
SB
O
.3
SB
O
.2
SB
O
.1
SB
O
.0
SB
O
P
N
O
.4
P
N
O
.3
P
N
O
.2
P
N
O
.1
P
N
O
.0
P
N
O
SFO
.4
SFO
.3
SFO
.2
SFO
.1
SFO
.0
SFO
R
SO
.4
R
SO
.3
R
SO
.2
R
SO
.1
R
SO
.0
R
SO
Pham Thi Phuong Thao et al. (2021) 
https://vjas.vnua.edu.vn/ 961 
Note: The letters a, b, c, d, e, and f present significant differences at the 5% level of formulas in the specific oils. 
Figure 3. The para-anisidine values of the four vegetable oils with and without antioxidants after 12 days of storage: SBO: 
Soybean oil; PNO: Peanut oil; SFO: Sunflower oil; and RSO: Rapeseed oil 
Discussion 
Due to the possible adverse effects of 
synthetic preservatives, many plants with novel 
sources of natural antioxidants have been 
extensively studied. TSO has become a potential 
candidate due to its high concentration of 
phenolic compounds (α-tocopherol, 
polyphenols) and carotenoids (Sahari et al., 
2004). The autoxidation of oils results in 
increased free reactive radicals that can be 
removed by α-tocopherol, polyphenols, and 
carotenoids via hydrogen transfer (Choe & Min, 
2005; 2009; Francenia Santos-Sánchez et al., 
2019). Oil oxidation is assisted by prooxidative 
metals that minimize the activation energy of 
oxidation and catalyze radical chain reactions 
(Fereidoon & Ying, 2010). Phenolic compounds 
such as flavonoids and phenolic acids act as 
metal chelators that inhibit the activity of metal 
ions (Rice-Evans et al., 1996). Another type of 
food oxidation, type II photosensitized oxidation, 
does not involve free radicals but requires non-
radical singlet oxygen that directly reacts with 
unsaturated fats and oils (Choe & Min, 2005). 
Singlet oxygen can be converted to its ground 
state, triplet oxygen, by carotenoids and phenolic 
compounds via energy transfer and charge 
transfer, respectively (Choe & Min, 2009). 
Our study evaluated the effectiveness of 
synthetic and natural antioxidants in improving 
the oxidative stability of vegetable oils based on 
three criteria: peroxide value (PV), para-
anisidine value (P-Av), and total oxidation 
(TOTOX) value. Since PV measures the 
concentration of the unstable hydroperoxide, it 
does not accurately reflect the progress of 
oxidation or the effectiveness of antioxidants 
measures the concentration of the unstable 
a
a
a
a
b
b
b
b
c
bc c
cd
c
b
d
e
d
d
e
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
p-aV
sample
SB
O
.4
SB
O
.3
SB
O
.2
SB
O
.1
SB
O
.0
SB
O
P
N
O
.4
P
N
O
.3
P
N
O
.2
P
N
O
.1
P
N
O
.0
P
N
O
SFO
.4
SFO
.3
SFO
.2
SFO
.1
SFO
.0
SFO
R
SO
.4
R
SO
.3
R
SO
.2
R
SO
.1
R
SO
.0
R
SO
Investigating the potential of Vietnamese tea seed oil for the enhancement of oxidative stability in vegetable oils 
962 Vietnam Journal of Agricultural Sciences 
Figure 4. The TOTOX values of the four vegetable oils with and without antioxidants after 12 days of storage: SBO: Soybean oil, 
PNO: Peanut oil, SFO: Sunflower oil, and RSO: Rapeseed oil 
hydroperoxide, it does not accurately reflect the 
progress of oxidation or the effectiveness of 
antioxidants (Gordon, 2004). Therefore, it must 
be used in conjunction with additional 
measurements such as P-Av, which measures the 
level of secondary oxidation products, and 
TOTOX, which indicates the total oxidation 
product concentration. The results from our 
study demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of 
TSO on oil oxidation was as strong as that of the 
synthetic compounds BHA and BHT. This 
harmonized with previous studies that illustrated 
the effectiveness of TSO in suppressing the 
oxidation susceptibility of edible vegetable and 
animal oils such as soybean and fish oils (Fazel 
et al., 2008; 2009; Prabsangob & Benjakul, 
2018). Our data also suggested that TSO at a 
higher concentration (6%) was a more effective 
antioxidant than TSO at a lower concentration 
(3%). Moreover, we observed that the TSO-
induced oxidation suppression was more 
prominent in oils with higher levels of 
polyunsaturated fatty acids such as SFO than in 
those with lower levels of polyunsaturated fatty 
acids such as SBO and PNO. Unsaturated fatty 
acids provide several health benefits to the 
human body such as reducing the risk of 
inflammatory conditions, cardiovascular 
diseases, and cancers of the colon, heart, and 
prostate, and improving cognitive functions 
(Lunn & Theobald, 2006). However, vegetable 
oils rich in unsaturated fatty acids, especially 
polyunsaturated ones with more double bonds, 
are more prone to oxidative rancidity than 
saturated fatty acid-rich oils, and hence, require 
optimal processing to preserve their nutrient 
contents while minimizing oil oxidative 
susceptibility. TSO was shown to be a potential 
preservative in these dietary oils. Future 
research should focus on analyzing the effect of 
TSO additions on the abundance of unsaturated 
fatty acids and other essential nutrients in 
vegetable oils. 
Conclusions 
The results from our study suggested that the 
four tested vegetable oils enriched with 6% TSO 
had comparable or higher oxidative stability than 
those supplemented with synthetic preservatives 
such as BHA and BHT. The addition of 6% TSO 
reduced the TOTOX values of pure SFO, RSO, 
SBO, and PNO by 58%, 47%, 40%, and 23.5%, 
respectively. It also resulted in the most 
0.00
50.00
100.00
150.00
200.00
250.00
Totox
sample
SB
O
.4
SB
O
.3
SB
O
.2
SB
O
.1
SB
O
.0
SB
O
P
N
O
.4
P
N
O
.3
P
N
O
.2
P
N
O
.1
P
N
O
.0
P
N
O
SFO
.4
SFO
.3
SFO
.2
SFO
.1
SFO
.0
SFO
R
SO
.4
R
SO
.3
R
SO
.2
R
SO
.1
R
SO
.0
R
SO
Pham Thi Phuong Thao et al. (2021) 
https://vjas.vnua.edu.vn/ 963 
significant reductions in the peroxide and para-
anisidine values, although the changes varied 
among the four analyzed vegetable oils. The 
suppressing activity of other preservatives also 
varied among the four tested oils. The unequal 
effectiveness of the antioxidants may result from 
the physiochemical constituents of the oils and 
the interactions between additional and existing 
natural antioxidants in the vegetable oils. Further 
studies are required to unravel these complex 
relationships and maximize the efficiency of 
antioxidants during the preservation and usage of 
edible oils. Furthermore, the identification and 
quantification of possible anti-nutritional or toxic 
compounds in TSO are crucial to determine the 
usage and the appropriate dosage of TSO in 
dietary oils. 
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