A photo showing potato peels used for extraction of antioxidant.

In the last decade, there has been increasing attention given to new sources of natural antioxidant phytochemicals as a result of their potential health benefits, in addition to their functional properties in traditionally commercialized products such as preserving color and flavor and hence improving shelf life.

Lipid oxidation is one of the most important causes of food quality deterioration; it generates off odors and off flavors, decreases shelf life, alters texture and color, and decreases the nutritional value of food. Countless methods have been introduced to control the rate and extent of lipid oxidation in foods, but the addition of antioxidants is one of the most effective. Antioxidants have become a crucial group of food additives due to their ability to extend the shelf life of foods without any adverse effect on their sensory or nutritional qualities. Generally synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) are used to control oxidation, but these synthetic antioxidants are known to have carcinogenic and toxic effects on humans. Therefore, the importance of replacing synthetic antioxidants with natural ingredients has increased significantly.

A number of studies investigated the antioxidant effects of potato polyphenols i.e. effects on fish oil and oil-in-water emulsions and the results showed that potato peel extract is highly efficient at reducing lipid peroxidation. Ethanolic extract of potato peel waste was used to evaluate the ability to limit oil oxidation and, according to the results, extracts (obtained by extraction with a medium or high ethanol concentration) were able to stabilize soybean oil under accelerated oxidation conditions.

Again the antioxidant effect of potato peel by measuring both primary (hydroperoxides) and secondary oxidation products, and comparing them with sesame cakes and sugar beet pulp in terms of the effect on sunflower oil, showed that potato peels displayed more antioxidative effect than sesame cake and sugar beet pulp, performing as well as synthetic antioxidants (BHT and BHA To limit lipid oxidation in meat, potato peel extract was added to meat before irradiation; the extract was able to retard lipid peroxidation without affecting its flavor/aroma, thereby improving its storage quality. Also ethanol extracts of potato peel can be used as a natural additive to prevent lipid and protein oxidation in chilled storage and efficient in inhibiting the oxidation of cooked salmon.

Source:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4926369/). Albishi et al.

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