Possibility of the Functional Oil Production from Flax (ω-3) and Safflower (ω-6) Seeds and Evaluation of Its Physico-chemical Properties During 4 Months Storage

Although the importance of ω-3 and ω-6 essential fatty acid has been known but functional and physiological properties of ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acid are different. The balance use of ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acid is more important because in vivo cant make them. Possibility production of the functional oil from vegetable sources such as flaxseed (containing ω-3) and safflower (containing ω-6) oils including extraction, formulation and preservation. After extraction of the oils from flaxseed and safflower, physicochemical properties of the oils were examined and the product underwent the fractionation process in order to increase the ω-3 ratio. Then, functional oil was formulated using a 1:1 mixture of ω-3 and ω-6. Storage conditions and stability of the oil were also investigated for four months (0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 months) by studying peroxide, thiobarbituric acid and Rancimat indexes. Results showed that the ω-3 ratio may be increased from 50.19 to 52.59% (p<0.05) through fractionation. During the storage of the functional oil in the four months, the peroxide index increased from zero to 100.43 and 4.99 (meq O2 /k oil), the thiobarbituric acid index also increased from zero to 4.99 and 0.026 (malondialdehyde mg /k oil), and the Rancimat index decreased from 2.10 to 0.33 and from 2.10 to 1.35 (p<0.05) in the refrigerator and freezer, respectively. With the fractionation process can increase the amount of ω-3 fatty acid about 4/78 percent (p<0.05). Diagnostic examination showed that during the storage of the functional oil peroxide value of oil were under standard, so recommended using refrigerator in order to preserve functional oils.