Abstract
The antioxygenic effect and the oxidation pattern of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba lipids were followed during storage by determining the weight and the peroxide (POV) and carbonyl (COV) values. The lipids extracted with a mixture of chloroform/methanol (2:1) showed considerable antioxidant properties (as stabilizers) when added to methyl esters of safflower oil. This effect did not seem to be consistent with the high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids. By means of various chromatographic techniques and mass spectrometry, the antioxygenic material has been identified as α-tocopherol. Phospholipids, which comprised 41% of the total lipids, storage (45°C, 60 days) of krill lipids, no increase in POV was observed, as if the oxidation had been inhibited completely. However, during that period, an increase in COV was observed; one is thus forced to conclude that peroxides did not accumulate because the hydroperoxides were decomposed to carbonyl compounds by phospholipids.
