Sesame oil. III. Antioxidant properties of sesamol

Summary and Conclusions Sesamol possesses marked antioxidant activity in lard and also exhibits a pronounced protection for vegetable oils, especially for sesame oil. The antioxidant activity of sesamol strengthens the assumption that free sesamol is responsible for the unusual stability of hydrogenated sesame oil, a subject which has been reported in another article in this series. The use of sesamol as a commercial antioxidant would probably not be permitted until it has been shown to possess no undesirable physiological activity. However the presence of sesamol in concentrations up to 0.2% in sesame oil, one of the oldest edible oils known to man, would probably indicate that no serious adverse physiological problem exists in this respect. Although usually present in a bound form (sesamolin), this sesamol is known to be liberated by the action of mineral acids, even when quite dilute. Sesamol is a very low molecular weight compound which is sufficiently volatile to be removed by deodorization, consequently it should be added to the fat after deodorization.