Physical Properties and Oxidation Rates of Unrefined Menhaden Oil (Brevoortia patronus)

Unrefined menhaden oil was evaluated for thermal and rheological properties and its temperature-dependent viscosity and lipid oxidation rate were determined. Peroxide value, free fatty acids, density, specific gravity, water activity, moisture content, and enthalpy of the unrefined menhaden oil were 5.70 meq/kg, 3.80%, 0.93 g/mL, 0.93%, 0.52%, 0.15%, and 20.2 kJ/kg, respectively. The melting point range of unrefined menhaden oil was found to be-69.5 to 27.21 degrees C. The menhaden oil exhibited non-Newtonian fluid behavior at lower temperatures (5 to 25 degrees C), while it behaved like a Newtonian fluid at 30 degrees C. The oil apparent viscosity at 5 degrees C (0.22 Pa.s) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that at 30 degrees C (0.033 Pa.s). The average magnitude of activation energy for viscosity of the unrefined menhaden oil was 50.37 kJ/mol. The predicted apparent viscosity agreed (R-2 = 0.9837) satisfactorily with the experimental apparent viscosity. The minimal lipid oxidation rate of the oil was found at 25 and 35 degrees C for 6 h, higher lipid oxidation rates were observed when the oil was heated for 6 h at 45 to 85 degrees C. The rate of lipid oxidation for unrefined menhaden oil was temperature dependent (R-2 = 0.9425). This study showed that the magnitude of the apparent viscosity and oxidation rate of the unrefined menhaden oil was greatly influenced by temperature.