216 3 Lipids
pherols secure the stability of the oil end-product.
Soya oil, due to its relatively high level of furan
fatty acids and linolenic acid (cf. 14.3.2.2.5), is an
exception. The tocopherol content of animal fat is
influenced by animal feed.
The antioxidant activity of tocopherols increases
fromα→δ. It is the reverse of the vitamin E
activity (cf. 6.2.3) and of the rate of reaction with
peroxy radicals. Table 3.39 demonstrates that
α-tocopherol reacts with peroxy radicals faster
than the other tocopherols and the synthetic
antioxidants DBHA and BHT.
The higher efficiency ofγ-tocopherol in compari-
son toα-tocopherol is based on the higher stabil-
ity ofγ-tocopherol and on different reaction prod-
ucts formed during the antioxidative reaction.
After opening of the chroman ring system,
α-tocopherol is converted into an alkyl radical
which in turn oxidizes to a hydroxy-alkylquinone
(I in Formula 3.81).α-Tocopherol is a faster
scavenger for peroxy radicals formed during
autoxidation than γ-tocopherol (Table 3.39),
but α-tocopherol then generates an alkyl rad-
ical which, in contrast to the slow reacting
chromanoxyl radical, can start autoxidation of
unsaturated fatty acids. Therefore, the peroxida-
tion rate of an unsaturated fatty acid increases
with higher α-tocopherol concentrations after
Table 3.39.Rate constants of tocopherols and BHT for
reaction 2 in Fig. 3.35 at 30◦C
Antioxidant k(1·mol−^1 ·s−^1 )· 10 −^5
α-Tocopherol 23. 5
β-Tocopherol 16. 6
γ-Tocopherol 15. 9
δ-Tocopherol 6. 5
2,6-Di-tert-butyl-4- 1. 1
hydroxyanisole (DBHA)
2,6-Di-tert-butyl-p-cresol 0. 1
(BHT)
(3.81)going through a minimum. This prooxidative
effect is smaller in the case of γ-tocopherol
because in contrast toα-tocopherol, no opening
of the chroman ring takes place but formation
of diphenylether and biphenyl dimers occurs.
The supposed explanation for these reaction
products is: The peroxy radical of a fatty acid
abstracts a hydrogen atom from γ-tocopherol
(Formula 3.82). A chromanoxyl radical (I) is
formed, that can transform into a chromanyl
radical (II). Recombination of (I) and (II) results
in the diphenylether dimer (III) and recombin-
ation of two radicals (II) into the biphenyl
dimer (IV). Unlike p-quinone from the reac-
tion ofα-tocopherol, the dimer structures (III)
and (IV) possess one or two phenolic OH-groups
that are also antioxidatively active.(3.82)