Addition of Aqueous Extract of Pomegranate Peel as an Antioxidant in Sunflower Oil Using Microemulsion System

Recently, due to the known antioxidant activity of plant compounds and their derivatives, great attention is attracted by using such compounds in food and biological systems. This study aimed to explore the possibility of adding the aqueous extract of pomegranate peel as an antioxidant in sunflower oil using microemulsion system. For this purpose, the effect of two solvents (water and 96% ethanol) on the extraction efficiency of phenolic compounds and DPPH radical scavenging property was investigated. Therefore, nano-capsulated aqueous extract (at 200 and 400 ppm), ethanolic extract and BHT (at 200 ppm) were added into an antioxidant free sunflower oil and the peroxide value, p-anisidine value and free fatty acid contents of treated oils were determined. Results showed that the phenolic content of aqueous extract was higher and, the lower radical-scavenging ability in DPPH test was related to ethanolic extract. The peroxide value , p-anisidine value and free fatty acid contents of sunflower oil containing 400 ppm aqueous extract at 50 were lower than other samples. It can be concluded that the usage of microemulsified aqueous pomegranate peel extract may improve the quality storage of sunflower oil when compared to the free extract.