Oxidation of linoleic acid as a marker for shelf life of corn flour

The objective of this study was to measure the oxidation of linoleic acid of nixtamalised corn masa (NCM) during an accelerated shelf life study at high temperature (45-85 °C), and 0.45 a_w for 180 days. Linoleic acid (LA) was present at 55.1%, followed by oleic acid (26.9%), as measured by gas chromatography. The propagation of lipid oxidation, measured by anisidine value, reached its peak 2-5 days after the peroxide value had passed over its maximum value. At this time, flour showed at least a 10% reduction of LA; but, at the end of storage only 10% of LA remained. The autocatalytic oxidation of linoleic acid in NCM was temperature-dependent, with Q₁₀ = 1.4. The index of quality loss for corn flour stored at 55 °C was 0.48% per day; under these conditions 50% of its quality decreased in only 104 days. Mathematical modelling estimates a shelf life of 84 days for corn masa (<6 meq/kg peroxide) stored at 25 °C.