BUCK & BARRINGER: JOURNAL OF AOAC INTERNATIONAL VOL. 90, NO.

6, 2007 1729

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATIONS

Comparison of Hexane and Petroleum Ether to Measure Surface Oil Content

VINODINI E. BUCK and SHERYL A. BARRINGER1 The Ohio State University, Department of Food Science and Technology, 2015 Fyffe Rd, Columbus, OH 43210

Many studies have measured surface oil on potato chips and spray dried powders using either petroleum ether or hexane. This study compared the effectiveness of the 2 solvents using aluminum squares to ensure oil stays on the surface of the sample during the measurement. Aluminum squares were sprayed with soybean oil, and surface oil was measured immediately and after 1 day. Each of the 8 aluminum samples were individually dipped for 12 s in either hexane or petroleum ether. For immediately extracted samples, there was no significant difference in the amount of oil extracted using either hexane or petroleum ether. For 1-day-old samples, hexane extracted more oil than petroleum ether. Neither method extracted all of the surface oil.

study was to determine which method is most effective for measuring the surface oil content of foods such as potato chips, using metal samples to reduce sample interference. Experimental Aluminum squares, 2.54 2.54 cm, were used to ensure that no oil was absorbed inside the substrate. Approximately 13.25 mg/cm2 of soybean oil was sprayed across the squares and extracted immediately and after 1 day. Surface oil content was measured by dipping each of the 8 squares individually into a beaker of hexane or petroleum ether for 12 s. The difference in the weight of the clean beaker and after the solvent was allowed to evaporate overnight at room temperature determined the surface oil content. The amount of oil extracted was divided by the amount of oil added to calculate the percent of oil extracted. Results and Discussion There was no significant difference in surface oil content measured using petroleum ether (83.9%) or hexane (81.0%), both solvents obtained from Mallinckrodt (Hazelwood, MO), for aluminum squares extracted immediately after spraying (Figure 1). For 1-day-old aluminum squares, hexane produced higher surface oil extraction (81.9%) compared to petroleum ether (56.9%; Figure 1). Neither hexane nor petroleum ether gave 100% recovery of the surface oil applied to the samples, even immediately after applying. Because the oil could not have migrated inside the sample, the decrease in efficiency must be due to a stronger affinity of the oil for the metal surface than the nonpolar solvent. After a day, hexane still produced the same surface oil content values. However, efficiency of the petroleum ether extraction decreased significantly. Petroleum ether has a boiling point range of 3560C. Oxidation and polymerization of the oil that occurs during storage significantly decreased the ability of petroleum ether to extract the oil. Hexane is a more nonpolar solvent than petroleum ether; thus, it should be more effective for extracting the oil. Conclusions

n the food industry, the amount of surface oil affects adhesion of powder coatings onto snack products. It is important to measure surface oil to determine how much oil is present on different products under different conditions, to produce good coating adhesion while minimizing the total oil content. For powdered encapsulated oils, the surface oil content remaining on the surface of the powder determines the stability of the powder due to oxidation of the surface oil. Surface oil content has been measured in different ways by different authors. Petroleum ether extraction has been used to measure the surface oil content of tortilla chips (1), encapsulated conjugated linoleic acid powder (2), and encapsulated vegetable oil powder (3). Hexane extraction has also been used to determine the surface oil content of tortilla chips (4) as well as encapsulated cardamom oil powder (5) and encapsulated lemon oil powder (6). Other methods include using isopropanol to extract surface oil from milled rice samples (7), using dried filter paper to absorb the oil from sesame seeds heated to 200C for 3 min (8), and weighing blotting paper used to blot chopped coconut pieces (9). It is difficult to verify the efficiency of these methods since surface oil often changes over time, and total extraction methods remove internal as well as surface oil. The objective of this

Received May 21, 2007. Accepted by SG June 29, 2007. 1 Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; e-mail: barringer.11@osu.edu

For immediate testing, hexane and petroleum ether are equally effective for measuring surface oil, but if the samples

1730 BUCK & BARRINGER: JOURNAL OF AOAC INTERNATIONAL VOL. 90, NO. 6, 2007

Figure 1. Comparison of percent of surface oil on aluminum squares extracted using hexane or petroleum ether. Letters indicate significant difference between samples.

will be stored for any length of time, hexane is more effective. Neither method measures 100% of the surface oil present. References
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