PACKAGED PRODUCT QUALITY AND SHELF LIFE 71Once oxygen has been introduced into the unsaturated fatty acids to form hydroperoxides by any of these routes, the subsequent breakdown of thesecolourless, odourless intermediates, proceeds along similar routes regardless ofhow oxidation was initiated. It is the breakdown products of the hydroperoxides – the aldehydes, alcohols and ketones that are responsible for the characteristic stale, rancid and cardboard odours associated with lipid oxidation.Lowering the storage temperature does not stop oxidative rancidity becauseboth the first and second steps in the reaction have low activation energies.Reduction of the concentration of oxygen (both dissolved and in the headspace)to below 1%, removal of factors that initiate oxidation and the use of antioxidants are strategies employed to extend shelf life where rancidity is a shelflife limiting factor.In milk chocolate, the presence of tocopherol (vitamin E), a natural antioxidant in cocoa liquor provides a high degree of protection against rancidity.However, white chocolate does not have the antioxidant protection of cocoaliquor and so is prone to oxidative rancidity, particularly light induced. Evenwith light barrier packaging, its shelf life is shorter than that of milk or plainchocolate. However, the cost of eliminating oxygen from the pack would beprohibitive and not worth the additional cost for the relatively small increase inshelf life that this change would result in.
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