Antagonistic Antioxidant Effect in Butylated Hydroxytoluene/Butylated Hydroxyanisole Mixture

The widespread use of antioxidants in food processing industries, especially oil and oil-based ones, has great economic advantages. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA, E 320) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT, E 321) are synthetic antioxidants still widely used in foods. The present study shows and discusses the antioxidant properties of these two antioxidants individually and their mixtures differing in concentration of the components. The results, obtained by 2,2′-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays, show the antagonistic antioxidant effect of BHT/BHA mixture on free radical scavenging. The observed effect is explained by quicker consumption of ABTS cation radicals by BHA or by regeneration of BHA by BHT in the presence of DPPH radical. Practical Applications Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA, E 320) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT, E 321) are synthetic antioxidants still widely used in foods. There are many examples of food products, in which these antioxidants are applied together. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, considers BHA and BHT to be possibly carcinogenic to humans. For this reason, it is important to learn more about the antioxidant properties of these two antioxidants and their mixtures. Detailed information about antioxidant effect of BHT/BHA mixture on free radical scavenging is presented in this paper. In the light of obtained results, the necessity of applying of BHT/BHA mixture in food preservation seems strongly disputable.