Influence of light and contents of tocopherols on the oxidative stability of fatty acid methyl esters

The oxidative stability of different plant oil based fatty acid methyl este rs can be estimated by determining the induction period with the active oxy gen method. Measuring the volatile and oil soluble acids For a long period preceding the induction period shows that the values are approaching a cert ain limit. Even if the eaters do not differ dramatically in the composition of fatty acids it is a fact that the different production processes influe nce the amount of tocopherols significantly. The exclusion of light is more crucial than the exclusion of air when stori ng plant oil based fatty acid esters.