Revealing oxidative degradation of lipids and screening potential markers of four vegetable oils during thermal processing by pseudotargeted oxidative lipidomics

The oxidative degradation of lipids in vegetable oils during thermal processing may present a risk to
human health. However, not much is known about the evolution of lipids and their non-volatile
derivatives in vegetable oils under different thermal processing conditions. In the present study, a
pseudotargeted oxidative lipidomics approach was developed and the evolution of lipids and their non-
volatile derivatives in palm oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, and flaxseed oil under different thermal
processing conditions was investigated. The results showed that thermal processing resulted in the
oxidative degradation of TGs in vegetable oils, which generated oxTGs, DGs, and FFAs, as well as TGs
with smaller molecular weights. The lower the fatty acid saturation, the more severe the oxidative
degradation of vegetable oils and thermal processing at high temperatures should be avoided if
possible. From the accumulation of oxTGs concentrations, the hazards during thermal processing at high
temperatures were, in descending order, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, flaxseed oil, and palm oil. The non-
volatile potential markers were screened in palm oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, and flaxseed oil for 1, 7,
5, and 2 markers related to thermal processing time, respectively. The study provided suggestions for
the consumption of vegetable oils from multiple perspectives and identified markers for monitored
oxidative degradation of vegetable oils.