Stabilizing corn oil using the lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) antioxidants extracted by subcritical water.

This research was set up to identify the impact of the antioxidant compounds present in lemon balm extract (LBE) as obtained by the subcritical water (SBCW) method on the oxidative stability of corn oil. An extraction yield of 28.52% was obtained for the SBCW and rosmarinic acid was identified to be the predominant phenolic compound present in the LBE. The total phenolic content of the LBE was found to be 212.74 mg gallic acid/g extract. Subsequently, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 ppm of the LBE were added to corn oil and its peroxide value (PV), acid value (AV), conjugated diene (CD), carbonyl value (CV), oxidative stability index (OSI), total polar compound and total phenolic compounds were compared to control and the sample containing 200 ppm of the BHA throughout the 16-day Schaal oven test at 70 °C. Our findings indicated that the corn oil containing greater LBE concentration had lower PV, AV, CD, and CV but greater OSI than the control sample. Evaluation of total polar compounds confirmed lower extent of the compounds with high polarity in the greater levels of the LBE. Finally, the LBE was able to slow down the rancidity of corn oil and the samples with higher LBE exhibited gentle oxidation rate.