Sunflower oil blends with rosemary extract tested for oxidative stability
What it found
Adding rosemary extract to sunflower oil slowed down oxidation in lab tests.
A blend with 1500 mg/kg of rosemary extract worked about as well as a common synthetic preservative.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Rosemary extract slowed oxidation
In lab tests, adding rosemary extract to sunflower oil delayed oxidation. The blend with 1500 mg/kg of rosemary extract performed similarly to oil with 200 mg/kg of a synthetic preservative.
Other findings
Estimated shelf life at room temperature
Using heat tests, the authors estimated how long the oils would last at 20 °C. Plain oil lasted an estimated 3790 h, the synthetic preservative blend 6974 h, and the 1500 mg/kg rosemary blend 4179 h.
Sorting method worked well
Statistical tools grouped the oil blends into 3 clusters based on their stability. The 1200 mg/kg and 1500 mg/kg rosemary blends clustered closely with the synthetic preservative oil.
What the authors conclude
- They found that the multivariate kinetic approach effectively identified the 1500 mg/kg rosemary blend as the best option for slowing oxidation in sunflower oil.
- They suggest this method can be used for quick and reliable estimation of how stable oil samples are.
How it was done
The authors wanted to find out if rosemary extract could help keep sunflower oil from going rancid. They also wanted to test a faster way to sort different oil blends by how long they last.
They mixed sunflower oil with rosemary extract at 9 different amounts, from 200 to 2000 mg/kg. They compared these to oil with a synthetic preservative and plain oil without any additives. They heated the oils between 100 and 130 °C with air flowing at 20 L/h to measure how quickly they oxidized.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- These were lab heating tests, not studies in people or animals. They cannot show what happens when someone eats these oils.
- Estimating shelf life from high temperatures may not perfectly match how oil behaves in real storage conditions.
The paper
- Title
- Classification of Sunflower Oil Blends Stabilized by Oleoresin Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) Using Multivariate Kinetic Approach
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Upadhyay R, Mishra HN (2015). Classification of Sunflower Oil Blends Stabilized by Oleoresin Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) Using Multivariate Kinetic Approach. Journal of food science. doi:10.1111/1750-3841.12966PubMed 26148221DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error