The total antioxidant capacity of edible vegetable oils is determined by their physical-chemical composition and might be associated with their quality attributes, especially with bioactivity and possibly with oxidative stability. The current review presents the fundamentals of total antioxidant capacity assays and critically evaluates the assays applicable to the analysis of oils. The role of the chemical components of edible oils as determinants of total antioxidant capacity is discussed, as well as the potential associations between antioxidant capacity and bioactivity or oxidative stability of the selected oils. Finally, we discuss evidences that, if systematically addressed in future experimental work, the application of total antioxidant capacity assays to vegetable oils might contribute to link the knowledge about their chemical composition with their bioactivity, and possibly with the stability of specific vegetable oils. Thus, antioxidant capacity assays can potentially be used for the quality control of edible oils.
Antioxidants; Plant oils; Lipid peroxidation; Free radicals
