Natural antioxidants for food use

There is a general trend towards replacing the use of synthetic antioxidants in food processing by the addition of natural oxidation inhibitors or by the preferential use of ingredients that naturally possess antioxidant activity. The chemical structures of natural antioxidants are related to those of synthetic antioxidants; most phenolic antioxidants are pyrocatechol or pyrogallol derivatives, dihydrochromanols, or flavonoids. The most important synergists are polysubstituted organic acids, amino acids, phospholipids are Maillard reaction products, which also efficiently chelate heavy metals. Because of their low solubility, polar compounds or extracts are more suitable for use in fatty foods than for addition to edible oils. The best approach may be to produce fatty foods that are oxidatively stable without requiring the addition of antioxidants.