The stability of alpha-tocopherol in whole-wheat flour and forn meal during heating

by Wisjaja, Kelvin.

Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) is a fat-soluble vitamin and a natural antioxidant that has many health benefits according to studies that have been conducted within the past years. In order to meet the recommended consumption level of vitamin E for consumers, it is necessary to know the stability level of the vitamin E in foods. Loss of the vitamin E in cereal grains is frequently caused by heat treatment in food processing. This study, focused on the vitamin E stability related to heating, is necessary in order to determine whether the vitamin E concentration of common types of flour, wheat and corn, decreases significantly after being exposed to the heat processing. This study focused on the impact of heat (95 " C) within three different periods (3, 6, and 9 hours) on the two types of flour (whole-wheat and corn). The vitamin E (alpha- tocopherol) content of both flour samples was analyzed using High Performance of Liquid Chromatography(HPLC) with fluorescence detection. The data was analyzed statistically on SPSS V. 14 software. The data indicated that the loss rate of alpha- tocopherol in 100 g whole-wheat flour (1.53 mgh) and whole-corn meal (0.288 mgh) were significantly different (p I .05). In addition, the results indicated that the effect of type of flour and heating time periods on the alpha-tocopherol loss were significant (p I .05). The effect of interactions between type of flour and heating time periods on the tocopherol loss was also significant (p I .05). The difference between alpha-tocopherol loss rate of whole-wheat flour and corn meal may be attributed to fatty acid composition, genetic property, and mineral content of both types of flour. The Graduate School University of Wisconsin Stout Menomonie, WI