Oxidative Degradation Kinetics of Tocopherols during Heating

Tocopherols are important lipid-phase antioxidants that are subject to heat degradation. Therefore, kinetic analyses for oxidative degradation of tocopherols as a function of temperatures and times were performed. Alpha-, gamma- and delta-tocopherols dissolved in glycerol were heated at 100${\sim}$250$^{\circ}C$ for 5～60 min. Oxidized tocopherols were analyzed by HPLC using a reversed phase ${\mu}$-Bondapak C$_{18}$-column with two kinds of elution solvent systems in a gradient mode. The degradation kinetics for tocopherols followed a first-order kinetic model. The rate of tocopherol degradation was dependent on heating temperatures. The degradation rate constants for ${\gamma}$- and ${\delta}$-tocopherols were higher than those for ${\alpha}$-tocopherol. The experimental activation energies of ${\alpha}$-, ${\gamma}$- and ${\delta}$- tocopherols were 2.51, 6.05 and 5.34 kcal/mole, respectively. The experimental activation energies for the oxidative degradation of ${\gamma}$- and ${\delta}$-tocopherols were higher than that of ${\alpha}$-tocopherol.