Kinetic determination of vitamin E in wheat germ oil

Abstract

The content of vitamin E in wheat germ oil produced by different manufacturers was determined with a microcalorimetry approach. The maximum amount of tocopherols was shown to be contained in the wheat germ oil produced by mechanical processing of the initial raw material according to Prof. A.B. Vishnyakov’s sparing technology. Eight samples of wheat germ oil produced in different processing cycles by OOO SibTar in the years 2011–2015 were analyzed. The synergistic oil components provided the high content of antioxidants, corresponding to the total content of tocopherols ranging from 240 to 420 mg%, which exceeds the reference data. The key elements for obtaining oil with a high content of vitamins are the use of high quality raw materials and pressing without heating or using any solvents. The content of tocopherols for oils produced from crops of different years was found to vary by 40%, depending mostly on growth and storage conditions of the grain. The content of tocopherols in an oil kind could serve as the oil quality criterion. For example, the values of vitamin E content obtained for two of the wheat germ oil samples tested were three times lower than the reference values, which indicates that these oil samples had been diluted with others kinds of oil.