Research Article
Constantin M. Dabire1, Roger C
Abstract
Ocimum basilicum essential oil, whose main constituents were linalool (48.73%) and eugenol (27.46%), was used as natural antioxidant in preventing the oxidation of a lipid: cottonseed oil. The study of the accelerated oxidation of cottonseed oil has been done in an illuminated oven at 60°C during 30 days. The results show that essential oil of Ocimum basilicum offered good possibility to control the oxidation rate of cottonseed oil. Essential oil was tested at different doses: 0, 200, 500 and 1000 ppm. It allowed the conservation of cotton oil during 5, 10 and 25 days for the respective doses of 200, 500 and 1000 ppm, where conservation time is the time period between experiments starting and when the peroxide index of oil reaches a value of 10 meq of O2/kg of cotton oil. These results were compared to those of BHT and showed that O. basilicum essential oil could be an alternative to the use of synthetic antioxidants