CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Argentina is an important peanut producer and exporter. Peanuts and peanut products are susceptible to lipid oxidation and undesirable flavor development. The shelf life of these products are relatively low. The use of natural functional additives in foods is increasing. Antioxidant and antomicrobian properties of essential oils have been studied in foods. The objective of this work was to evaluate the antioxidant properties of essential oils added into fried-salted peanuts. Essential oils would provide better sensory quality and longer shelf life to peanut products that those without essential oils. Blanched peanuts were fried in sunflower oil. After fried, the peanuts were covered with 0.02% of essential oils (dissolved in sunflower oil) and salted. Plane fried-salted peanut (FP) and fried-salted peanuts additived with rosemary (FP-R), oregano (FP-O), laurel (FP-L), and BHT (FP-BHT) were prepared. The consumer acceptance test was performed on fresh products to determine if the addition of essential oils has an effect on acceptability. Peroxide values (PV), conjugated dienes (CD), and descriptive analysis were performed during 112 days of storage to determine the antioxidant effect of essential oils on the product stability. The essential oil showed a negative effect on the acceptability. FP-R had the lowest value about 5 (neither like nor dislike), and FP and FP-BHT had the highest value about 7 (like very much) in a 9-point hedonic scale. Fried-salted peanuts with essential oil showed protection against lipid oxidation process. PV, CD, oxidized, and cardboard intensities increased and roasted peanut flavor decreased much more in FP during storage. Laurel, oregano, and BHT showed similar antioxidant activity and increased shelf life in fried-salted peanuts. These essential oils could be used as a natural antioxidant in functional foods with high lipid content.