Method for high throughput screening of antioxidants at near ambient temperatures

A method of measuring the effectiveness of an exogenous antioxidant compound in extending the shelf life of a lipid-containing food substrate, comprising the steps of:

• (a) adding an exogenous antioxidant compound to a lipid-containing test food substrate;
• (b) adding a diazo-type free radical source to the substrate in an amount between about 0.01 and about 2 percent by weight of the substrate;
• (c) heating to a temperature not greater than about 70° C. to produce products of the lipid oxidation process;
• and
• (d) measuring the efficacy of the antioxidant compound in extending the shelf-life of the test of food substrate by comparing the products of the lipid oxidation process with the same products produced in a control lipid-containing food substrate treated in the same way as the test substrate but without an exogenous antioxidant.

A method of measuring the efficacy of exogenous antioxidant compounds in protecting a lipid-containing food substrate against lipid oxidation processes, comprising the steps of:

• (a) dividing the substrate into at least a first portion and a second portion and adding an antioxidant compound only to the first portion of the substrate;
• (b) adding a diazo-type free radical source to the first and second substrate portions in an amount between about 0.01 and about 2 percent by weight of the substrate;
• (c) heating the first and second substrate portions to a temperature not greater than about 70° C. to produce products of the lipid oxidation process;
• (d) measuring the products of the lipid oxidation process of both portions;
• and;
• (e) comparing the measurements of the products of the lipid oxidation process of the second portion to those of the first portion in order to measure the efficacy of the antioxidant compound.