Turmeric - The Yellow Tinge of Prophylactic Safety to your Cooking Oil

The study is on the effect of turmeric on heat-induced lipid peroxidation of edible oils. Samples of coconut oil and sunflower oil were subjected to different heating conditions with and without turmeric supplementation and different oxidant and anti-oxidant parameters were estimated. Malondialdehyde (MDA) was assayed by HPLC while Conjugated Diene (CD) and Total Antioxidant Status (TAS) were estimated by spectrophotometric methods. It was found that MDA and CD levels were significantly lower and TAS level was significantly higher in oils treated with turmeric when compared to the samples in which turmeric was not added. Therefore this study shows that a household practice of adding a pinch of turmeric to oil before heating retards the heat induced lipid peroxidation thereby reducing the ill-effects of oxidants on health. The levels of MDA, CD and TAS were relatively higher in case of sunflower oil in comparison with coconut oil.