Phenolic compounds as stabilizers of oils and antioxidative mechanisms under frying conditions: A comprehensive review

A series of chemical reactions lead to the oil degradation under frying conditions, and a number of degraded compounds compromise the safety, nutrition, health and shelf-life of frying oils and fried food. Nevertheless, the oxidative deterioration of frying oils was little protected by numerous endogenous antioxidants, including carotenoids and tocopherols, as well as synthetic antioxidants. Phenolic compounds with strong biological activities are nature antioxidants widely distributed in the plant kingdom. Under frying conditions, phenolic compounds offer good protection of oils against oxidative deterioration without decreasing sensory properties of fried food. Though the antioxidant mechanisms of phenolic compounds have been reported in literature, the specific syntheses and performance evaluation of their antioxidant mechanisms under frying conditions is scarce. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the effect of phenolic compounds on the stabilization of oils and their working mechanisms to against oxidation under frying conditions, and their limitations and challenges are also included. This review will provide the potential insights on the possible application of phenolic antioxidants as the stabilizers of frying oils in food industry.