In this study, the effects of roasting camellia (Camellia oleifera Abel.) seed oils at different temperatures (65°C, 100°C, 120°C, and 140°C) on the oxidative stability and composition of the oils were investigated. The results showed that, in terms of the quality of the oils, the roasting temperature influenced the total phenolic content (which ranged from 1.64～2.45 GAE mg/g for the different oils) and total flavonoid content (which ranged from 0.36～0.45 QE mg/g for the different oils), while the fatty acid profile and tocopherol content were not influenced by the roasting temperature. We also investigated the kinetic parameters of camellia seed oil during oxidation via Rancimat (at temperatures ranging from 110~140°C). It turned out that the natural logarithms of the oxidative stability index (OSI) varied linearly with respect to temperature (R2: 0.958～0.997). This was done on the basis of the Arrhenius equation that indicates that the activation energies (Ea) for oxidative stability are 65.7～78.4 KJ/mol. Simultaneously, we found that increasing the roasting temperature could increase the antioxidant stability of Maillard reaction products in camellia seed oil. The effects of roasting include the assurance that the camellia seed oil so produced will comply with the relevant governmental health codes and standards and have a longer shelf life.
Keywords: Rancimat test; camellia seed oil; oxidative stability; roast.