Evaluation of the 'antioxidant power' of olive oils based on a FIA system with amperometric detection

A new method for the evaluation of the 'total antioxidant power' of olive o ils, based on a flow injection analysis system with electrochemical detecti on, is described. It represents an attractive alternative to the mostly use d Rancimat method since it is based on the chemical structure of antioxidan ts and does not require the manipulation of several parameters, such as tem perature and oxygen pressure, to accelerate oil oxidation. The proposed pro cedure is simple, rapid, allows a throughput of 90 samples h(-1) and provid es a good precision: an RSD of 3.5% was obtained for caffeic acid at the co ncentration level of 5 mg L-1 (n = 12). A comparison of the proposed proced ure with two other methods (Rancimat method and ABTS(.+) decoloration assay ) was performed to investigate the applicability and limitations of the pro posed method.