Effect of lecithin on the inhibitory efficiency of α-tocopherol during methyl oleate oxidation

It has been established that the effect of lecithin on the oxidation of methyl oleate depends on the rate of the free radical initiation: lecithin does not affect the reaction rate at high rates of radical initiation (the initiated oxidation) and accelerates the oxidation at low rates (autooxidation), causing the reduction of the induction period. The inhibitory action of mixtures of lecithin and the natural antioxidant α-tocopherol depends on the concentrations of both α-tocopherol and lecithin at different rates of oxidation. The inhibitory efficiency of mixtures with low concentrations of α-tocopherol is close to additive. Increasing the initial concentration of α-tocopherol in mixtures causes a gain in the synergistic effect. The synergistic effect depends extremally on lecithin concentration at high concentrations of α-tocopherol. The mechanism of the synergistic effect for the mixtures of α-tocopherol and lecithin is discussed.