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Evaluation of the oxidative stability of bakery products by OXITEST method

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Article  in  European Food Research and Technology · December 2016

DOI: 10.1007/s00217-016-2831-9

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Eur Food Res Technol
DOI 10.1007/s00217-016-2831-9
ORIGINAL PAPER
Evaluation of the oxidative stability of bakery products
by OXITEST method and sensory analysis
Marisa Carmela Caruso1 · Fernanda Galgano1 · Maria Antonietta Colangelo1 ·
Nicola Condelli1 · Teresa Scarpa1 · Roberta Tolve1 · Fabio Favati2 
Received: 5 September 2016 / Revised: 26 October 2016 / Accepted: 2 December 2016
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016
Abstract  The lipid oxidation is considered the main cause
of the deterioration of the food products with a high fat
content. Lipid oxidation is associated with the formation of
off-odor and off-flavor that compromise the acceptability of
the products; moreover, this reaction affects the nutritional
quality of foods, in particular the fatty acids content. In
this work the stability of bakery products with a high fat
content was monitored over a 12 months of storage, con-
sidering the lipid oxidation as the limiting factor for the
shelf-life products. For this study the OXITEST has been
used as innovative and promising instrument. The OXIT-
EST reactor was used to monitor the oxidative stability of
four different types of bakery products. The stability of the
products was also monitored with the sensory and chemi-
cal analyses in order to support the instrumental analysis.
The sensory analysis was useful to evaluate the perceptible
changes occurring on the products during storage. Moreo-
ver, with the OXITEST an accelerated shelf-life test to pre-
dict the shelf life of each product has been performed. By
physical–chemical data obtained during experimentation it
was found that the products have a different stability to the
oxidation reaction, depending on the type of fats used and
on the composition of the products. The data obtained from
the OXITEST were correlated with the sensory data. Fur-
thermore, the OXITEST instrument can be utilized as rapid
* Fernanda Galgano
fernanda.galgano@unibas.it
1 ence of substances with antimicrobial action, type of raw
School of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental
Sciences, University of Basilicata, Viale dell’Ateneo Lucano
10, 85100 Potenza, Italy
2
Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Strada
Le Grazie 15, 37134 Verona, Italy
method for oxidative stability studies; anyway, a further
research will be needed to confirm these results.
Keywords  Bakery products · Shelf life · Sensory analysis ·
OXITEST · Oxidative stability
Introduction
The modern food industry tends to satisfy the needs of
consumers who demand products of high quality also for
a long time period. The maintenance of high levels of sen-
sory quality associated with the freshness of the product
has also been recommended [1]. For semi-perishable prod-
ucts the evaluation of the sensory characteristics is essential
for monitoring the evolution of the parameters which influ-
ence the acceptability; in fact, the sensory characteristics of
foods (excluding wine and cheese) change negatively dur-
ing storage, causing variations of the product and forma-
tion of unwanted aromatic compounds. The use of a panel
of tasters is useful to define the shelf life of semi-perishable
foods, but represents an expensive solution for the industry,
in terms of both time and money [1]. Regardless of the type
of product analyzed, the shelf life is defined as the period
of time during which slight changes occur in the product
without compromising the safety and acceptability. The
shelf life of food is influenced by many factors, intrinsic
or extrinsic to the product [2]. Among the intrinsic factors
there are: levels of water activity (aw), pH and total acidity,
redox potential, nutrients, endogenous microflora, the pres-
materials and the formulation of the product. In addition to
these factors, extrinsic factors can trigger and/or accelerate
the reactions of degradation of the food. Among the extrin-
sic factors there are: time–temperature combination of
13

treatments during the production process, moisture (RH%)
and temperature of the environments of production, storage
and distribution, microbiological pollution occurred in one
or more stages of production, type of packaging, handling
by the consumer [3]. Consequently, the shelf life of a prod-
uct is the result of a synergistic effect between intrinsic and
extrinsic factors which must be taken into account [2]. Bak-
ery products belong to the class of semi-perishable prod-
ucts. The term “bakery products” is referred to a wide range
of products used in most countries of the world, including
bread, biscuits, cakes, pies, breadsticks, crackers. The flour,
obtained from the Triticum aestivum ssp vulgare L., is the
main ingredient of bakery products. Bakery products con-
tain also fat ingredients, often in significant amount. The
addition of fats in bakery products influences the softness,
the flavor, the texture and the alveolation of the product [4].
The bakery products undergo phenomena of deterioration
during their shelf life, and precisely [5]:
1. physical deterioration (moisture loss, staling)
2. chemical changes (rancidity)
3. microbiological deterioration (growth of yeasts, molds
or bacteria)
One of the most serious problems affecting the bakery
goods is the staling. The staling is defined as the process
of deterioration, which occurs in bread or other products,
during the post baking, negatively affecting the sensory
characteristics of the product. Literature information indi-
cates that properties and molecular modifications of starch
are mainly responsible for the development of firmness
and the perception of staling [3]. However, staling evolu-
tion is also affected by other factors, such as migration of
moisture, temperature, gluten and supplemental ingredients
[6]. The staling occurs primarily in all bakery goods with
high humidity (breads and pastries). Also microbiological
deterioration is typical of high aw products, while the dried
ones are not affected by this problem.
The products with lower humidity and with a high fat
content, such as cookies, crackers and breadsticks, are par-
ticularly susceptible to lipid oxidation. For these products
lipid oxidation is considered the main cause of deterioration
[7]. The consequence of lipid oxidation is the formation of
off-odor and off-flavor that compromise the acceptability
and also affects the nutritional quality of the products. In
fact, one of the main effects of lipid oxidation is the reduc-
tion in the content in essential fatty acids. Furthermore, on
animals a toxic effect of primary and secondary products of
oxidation has been observed [8].
Traditional methods detected the oxidation stability of
foods by evaluating the quantity of primary and secondary
products of oxidation. Accelerated methods are new ana-
lytical techniques based on the application of an oxidative
13
Eur Food Res Technol
stress by increasing one or more oxidative factors. Among
these latter, OXITEST is an innovative instrument used for
oxidative stability studies of fat foods based on the moni-
toring of pressure over a period of time in analytical cham-
bers where the sample was submitted at high O2 pressure
and high temperature. Because the OXITEST is a recent
instrument, at the moment there are still few studies about
its use [9–12]. In particular, to our knowledge, the literature
focused on the use of this instrument for analyzing pro-
cessed foods, such as bakery products, is scarce [13].
The purpose of this work was to carry out a study of sta-
bility of bakery products with a high fat content, consid-
ering the lipid oxidation reaction as the limiting factor for
their shelf life. The evolution of the products was followed
by determining chemical parameters notoriously associated
with fat quality (acidity, peroxides value, p-anisidine value,
ultraviolet spectrophotometric analysis). The OXITEST
reactor was used to monitor the oxidative stability of four
different types of bakery products. Furthermore, OXITEST
instrument test for accelerated oxidation stability has been
performed to predict the shelf life of each product, both on
raw materials and on finished products, without the need
for any preliminary fat separation. To support the chemi-
cal data, sensory analysis of bakery products by a panel
of trained judges during 12 months of storage was also
conducted.
Materials and methods
Sampling
The analyses were conducted on four types of baked prod-
ucts, three salty and one sweet, having activity water rang-
ing from 0.112 to 0.198, and with a different fat content.
The two different fats used for their preparation (palm oil
and olive oil) were also analyzed. The samples were packed
in small bag by using a OPP-metallized laminated film and
provided by an industry of the district Lucano-Pugliese
(Matera, South of Italy). In Table 1 is illustrated the com-
position of the analyzed products.
Chemical analyses
The products were analyzed at regular intervals of time,
corresponding to the day of production and after 4, 8 and
12 months and indicated, respectively, as T0, T1, T2, T3.
During the storage period the bakery products have been
maintained in the original package in a cool and dry place,
at a temperature of 20–25 °C. Raw materials (olive and
palm oil) from same lot used in bakery production and the
fat extracted from the products at each time of analysis
were stored in refrigerator at 14 °C. The fat was extracted
Eur Food Res Technol
Table 1  Composition of the samples
Product Ingredients
Crackers with olives Wheat flour, palm oil, olive oil, sea salt, yeast. Total fat 15.6%, saturated fat 5.9%
Taralli with hot chili pepper Wheat flour, palm oil, olive oil, sea salt, hot chili pepper, ammonium bicarbonate. Total fat 24.6%, saturated fat
11.9%
Breadsticks with olive oil Wheat flour, olive oil, sea salt, yeast. Total fat 13.3%, saturated fat 3.33%
Biscuits with lemon Wheat flour, sugar, palm oil, eggs, leavening agents: ammonium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, natural aromas,
emulsifier: soy lecithin. Total fat 16.5%, saturated fat 8.2%
with Soxhlet method by using petroleum ether as solvent.
On the lipid fraction a spectrophotometric analysis in the
ultraviolet (∆K) was performed [14]; free acidity [15]; per-
oxide value (PV) [15]; p-anisidine value (p-AnV), accord-
ing to the AOCS Official Method Cd 18-90 [16]. The level
of total oxidation of bakery products and raw materials was
expressed as TOTOX value (TOTOX = 2PV + p-AnV). All
the analyses were made in triplicate. All the chemical rea-
gents were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Milan, Italy).
Measure of the oxidative stability by OXITEST method
The analysis with OXITEST (VELP, Usmate, MB, Italy)
was performed on raw materials (olive and palm oil, 10 g)
and on bakery products (30 g of grounded product). The
products were ground and analyzed by OXITEST for
oxidative stability. Each accelerated oxidation test was
repeated using two different reactors, for a total of four
analytical replies (each reactor is fitted with two separate
oxidation chambers), under over-pressure of pure oxy-
gen (0.6 MPa, degree 5.0) and constant high temperature
(90 °C). The OXITEST response is the induction period
(IP), expressed as “stability time” before fat oxidation and
corresponding to a drop of O2 pressure due to the consump-
tion of oxygen by the sample. The IP value is automati-
cally calculated from oxidation curve by graphical method
(two tangent methods) by using the OXISoft™ program
included in the instrument.
In addition, an accelerated shelf-life test for bakery
products has been performed at three different temperatures
(80, 90 and 100 °C or 90, 100 and 110 °C) and the data
were analyzed using the OXISoft™ program. With this
procedure it is possible to extrapolate and estimate the oxi-
dation stability of samples at room temperature, in case of
linear dependence with the temperature.
Sensory analysis
The sensory evaluation has been conducted on the bakery
products. It was used a panel of eight judges (six females
and two males), aged between 24 and 38 years, recruited in
the University of Basilicata. The judges have been trained
to recognize different intensities of 13 sensory attributes
(AROMA: oxidized aroma, cardboard aroma; TASTE:
sweet, salty, sour, bitter; FLAVOR: oxidized flavor, card-
board flavor; TEXTURE: hardness, crispness, friability;
TACTILE SENSATIONS: feeling fat palate, feeling dry
palate), obtained from the bibliography [17–21]. Moreover,
to help judges to recognize the attributes of interest were
created appropriate reference standards. In particular, as
a standard for the crispness were used chips, crackers for
friability, shortbread biscuits for hardness. Wet cardboard
has been used as a standard for the cardboard aroma. The
standard for oxidized aroma and flavor was obtained by
brushing the cookies with a mixture of olive and palm oil
previously oxidized with OXITEST (T 90 °C, oxygen pres-
sure 6 bar) diluted with fresh oil. All the analyses were
made in triplicate and repeated at each time (T0, T1, T2, T3).
Data analysis
In order to evaluate the significance of differences between
the storage time and the samples, least significance differ-
ence (LSD) test was conducted. The analysis of variance
(ANOVA) was also performed. Sensory data were acquired
and processed with FIZZ software (ver. 2.47, Biosystèmes,
Couternon, France).
Results and discussion
Chemical analyses
The measurements made immediately after production
and packaging of the samples allowed to describe the bak-
ery products in the initial phase of the trial, highlighting
the differences in terms of physicochemical and sensory
parameters. Peroxide value of the fats extracted was in the
range 2.33–27.42 meq O2/kg (Table 2). The highest value
was observed for the fat extracted from the crackers with
olives, while the lowest one for cookies with lemon. Per-
oxide value of the raw materials was of 6.14 meq O2/kg
for olive oil, whereas a lower value, equal to 0.94 meq O2/
kg, was observed for palm oil, notoriously more stable to
13
 Eur Food Res Technol

Table 2  Range values of analytical parameters throughout the storage time (12 months)

Chemical parameters Crackers with olives p Taralli with hot chili p Breadsticks with olive p Biscuits with lemon p
pepper oil

Acidity (%) 0.34–0.36 NS 0.12–0.23 *** 0.36–0.39 NS 0.23–0.30 NS

Peroxide value (PV) 9.62–27.42 ** 4.16–16.23 ** 8.14–22.63 ** 2.33–12.59 **
(meq O2/kg)
p-Anisidine value 5.22–6.11 * 6.83–10.97 ** 5.89–9.64 * 7.03–11.82 *
(p-AnV)
∆K 0.15–0.19 NS 0.13–0.15 NS 0.13–0.16 NS 0.19–0.19 NS
Induction period (IP) 1171.00–610.50 ** 2444.50–2210.50 NS 2210.50–971.00 * 8664.50–8318.50 *
(min)

* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001

Fig. 1  TOTOX of bakery prod-

ucts immediately after produc- 25
tion (T0) and raw materials

20
TOTOX value

15

10

0
Crackers with Breadsticks Taralli with Biscuits with Olive oil Palm oil
olives with olive oil hot chili lemon
pepper

lipid oxidation. Figure 1 shows the TOTOX value of the fat
extracted from the bakery products and raw materials at T0
time. From TOTOX data it was clear that the biscuits with
lemon and taralli with hot chili pepper were characterized
by a lowest level of oxidation. These differences among the
products are attributable not only to the type of fat used, but
also to the presence of ingredients which may have played
a role in inhibiting or promote the reaction of lipid oxida-
tion. For example, the biscuits with lemon contain only
palm oil, known to be more stable than other fats in oxida-
tion reactions [22]. In addition, the sample contains lemon;
scientific studies showed that the lemon has an antioxidant
activity, protecting the lipids during reactions of oxidation
and influencing the formation of primary compounds, such
as peroxides [23, 24]. Consequently, it can be assumed that
in this sample the synergistic effect of the type of fat and
antioxidant activity exerted by lemon contributed to pro-
tect the product from the oxidation. Also taralli with hot
chili pepper stood out for a high oxidation stability, espe-
cially for a low peroxides value. The sample in this case
contains both olive oil and palm oil, and in addition, it
contains hot chili pepper. The hot chili pepper may have
played an important role in preventing the formation of
peroxides. This statement seems confirmed by the results
obtained from Bignardi et al. [25]; Gouveia et al. [26], who
reported the antioxidant power of different species of chili
peppers of the genus Capsicum (annum and frutescens)
added to edible oils. Moreover, these authors reported that
the chili pepper acts as scavenger of peroxides. In addition,
the study of Si et al. [27] recognized in the capsaicin the
molecule responsible of the antioxidant power of hot chili
pepper. Cavazza et al. [28] reported that red chili pepper
is an excellent source of bioactive compounds useful for
protecting olive oil from spoilage, improving the oxidative
stability during the oil storage. All samples were also ana-
lyzed by OXITEST instrument. At the first time the bak-
ery products showed IP values very high for all samples. In
particular, IP values confirmed a greater oxidation stability
of lemon biscuits and taralli with hot chili pepper (Fig. 2).
These values seem to confirm the initial chemical data.

13
Eur Food Res Technol
Fig. 2  IP values of the samples at T0 (after production)
Evolution of chemical parameters
The evolution of the physical–chemical and sensory param-
eters of the products was followed for 12 months by per-
forming the analysis to four times (T0, T1, T2 and T3). The
results are summarized in Table 2. As regards taralli with
hot chili pepper it should be said that in the analysis phase,
in particular during the titration to measure the number of
peroxides, some problems have been observed in determin-
ing the change of color. The fat extracted from the sam-
ple was intensely colored red-orange, probably due to the
presence of hot chili pepper. The main difficulty was to get
the colorless, as required by the procedure of the titration.
It was assumed that during the fat extraction it has been
extracted also coloring substances (probably carotenoids
content in hot chili pepper) that made it difficult to identify
the end point of the titration. Instead for p-anisidine value
is believed that the intense staining of the sample, and par-
ticularly the presence of carotenoids, has interfered with
the spectrophotometric analysis. In fact, Shahidi et al. [29]
reported that p-anisidine test is based on a reaction between
the aldehydes and p-anisidine that leads to the formation
of compounds of yellow color absorbing at 350 nm. In the
case of taralli with hot chili pepper, the intense staining of
the sample may have masked the yellow compounds, dis-
torting the final result. However, the data of acidity, ΔK and
IP (Table 2), showed that the sample had a good stability to
oxidation. Moreover, the data of sensory analysis helped to
describe the evolution of the sample. Furthermore, it was
Sample IP [h:min]
Biscuits with lemon 146:51
Taralls with hot chilli 42:33
pepper
Breadscks with olive 39:43
oil
Crackers with olives 20:29
observed that the evolution of the parameters was different
for each product.
Mora et al. [30] found a good correlation level
between the IP value and peroxides value of a soybean
oil (R2  = 0.98); conversely, in this work no correlation
between these indices was found.
Evolution of the sensory parameters
Although the chemical analyses were useful to describe
the evolution of a food product during storage time, only
by sensory analysis it is possible to determine whether a
product continues to have the approval of the consumer.
The analysis of variance on sensory data showed a signifi-
cant effect of time on the sample “crackers with olives”
for many of the attributes. The only attribute for which
we observed no significant change is the “acid” attribute
(p > 0.05). In particular, as reported in Fig. 3, the attrib-
utes oxidized flavor and aroma, cardboard aroma and flavor
were perceived with an increasing intensity over time. The
analysis of the sensory parameters associated with the lipid
oxidation (oxidation aroma and flavor, cardboard aroma
and flavor) showed that the judges already after 4 months
perceived significant changes of the product, which became
more evident after 12 months of storage. In addition, the
deterioration of the product is also evidenced by a loss of
crispness and friability. For this sample it was observed
a correlation between the oxidized flavor and p-AnV
recorded at different times (R2  = 0.517) and between the
13
 Eur Food Res Technol

Fig. 3  Spider plot of sensory oxidized

analysis of crackers with aroma***
olives. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; 70 cardboard
***p < 0.001 dry palate*
60 aroma***
50
fat palate*** 40 sweetness*
30 T0 (after production)
20
friability*** 10 salty*** T1 (after 4 months)
0
T2 (after 8 months)
crispness*** acid NS T3 (after 12 months)

hardness*** bitter**
cardboard oxidized
flavour*** flavour***

Fig. 4  Spider plot of sensory oxidized aroma*

analysis of taralli with hot chilli 70 cardboard
dry palate***
pepper. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; 60 aroma**
***p < 0.001 50
fat palate*** 40 sweetness NS
30 T0 (after production)
20
friability*** 10 salty*** T1 (after 4 months)
0
T2 (after 8 months)
crispness** acid*** T3 (after 12 months)

hardness*** bitter***
cardboard oxidized flavour
flavour*** NS

oxidized aroma and the p-AnV (R2  = 0.814). In fact, the
secondary products detected with p-anisidine test are the
same products responsible for sensory characteristics that
assume an oxidized product (rancid odor and taste).
The analysis of variance of sensory data of taralli with
hot chili pepper showed a significant change of all attrib-
utes, excluding the attributes of sweetness and oxidized
flavor. As also reported in Fig. 4 it was observed that as
the judges of the panel have not perceived any change in
the oxidized flavor they perceived a growing intensity of
cardboard aroma and flavor. After 8 months (T3) the judges
perceived a lower hardness, crunchiness and crispness of
the sample, probably caused by progressive aging of the
product. For this sample it was found a positive correlation
between the oxidized flavor and IP values (R2 = 0.50), also
between the oxidized aroma and the IP index (R2 = 0.97).
Consequently, both the physicochemical and sensory data
confirm of a good stability of the product to oxidation
reaction.
For most of the attributes analyzed for the bread-
sticks with olive oil, the analysis of variance showed no
significant change of the attributes (Fig. 5). However,
significant changes occurred for the attributes cardboard
aroma (p  = 0.0005), sweetness (p  = 0.0139), cardboard
flavor (p  = 0.0002), hardness (p  = 0.0001), crispness
(p = 0.0010) and friability (p = 0.0001). The judges who
performed the sensory analysis have perceived high levels
of cardboard flavor and aroma after just 4 months. In the
following months the intensity of the attributes increased
but with a smaller gap than that observed between T0 and
T1. It was found a positive correlation between the card-
board flavor and IP (R2 = 0.57); furthermore, also a corre-
lation between the oxidized flavor and the values of p-ani-
sidine was found (R2  = 0.53) and between the oxidized
aroma and IP (R2 = 0.65).
For the biscuits with lemon, the time has not had a sig-
nificant effect on 6 of the 13 parameters considered, specifi-
cally nonsignificant changes were observed for the oxidized
aroma and cardboard aroma, for attributes acid and bitter,
for the cardboard flavor and the crispness. The parameter
“oxidized flavor” varied significantly during storage time
(p < 0.001), and the more evident variation was observed
after 8 months (time T3) (Fig. 6). For this sample a posi-
tive correlation between the oxidized flavor and p-anisidine

13
Eur Food Res Technol

Fig. 5  Spider plot of sensory oxidized aroma

analysis of breadsticks with NS
olive oil. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; 70 cardboard
***p < 0.001 dry palate NS
60 aroma***
50
fat palate NS 40 sweetness*
30
20 T0 (after production)
friability*** 10 salty NS T1 (after 4 months)
0
T2 (after 8 months)

crispness*** acid NS T3 (after 12 months)

hardness*** bitter NS
cardboard oxidized flavour
flavour*** NS

Fig. 6  Spider plot of sen- oxidized aroma

sory analysis of biscuits with NS
lemon. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; 70 cardboard
dry palate NS
***p < 0.001 60 aroma NS
50
fat palate* 40 sweetness***
30 T0 (after production)
20
friability*** 10 salty* T1 (after 4 months)
0
T2 (after 8 months)
crispness NS acid NS T3 (after 12 months)

hardness*** bitter NS
cardboard oxidized
flavour NS flavour***

(R2 = 0.82) was observed. Anyway, the maximum oxidized
flavor intensity at the end of storage was lower than that
perceived for the crackers with olives. Furthermore, the
judges perceived with less intensity the crispness attribute,
friability and hardness, which are affected by aging of the
product and by moisture absorption phenomena. Although
the panel perceived a significant change in the flavor of oxi-
dized, it was possible to note that there were no significant
changes in oxidized aroma. Furthermore, for this sample
it was noted that the IP values confirmed a good stability
of the biscuit. However, the judges perceived significantly
the oxidation evolution. This highlighted the inability of
machines to capture some aspects of the oxidation reaction,
which would be perceived by humans.
Accelerated shelf‑life test
An accelerated shelf-life test was conducted with the
OXITEST, considering the lipids oxidation reaction as the
reaction limiting the shelf life of the products. The test
was conducted at elevated temperatures and pressures of
O2. Three runs of analysis were made for each sample at
three different temperatures, ranging from 80 to 110 °C and
at pressure of 6 bar. In particular, the test was performed
at 80, 90 and 100 °C, except for biscuits with lemon, for
which 90, 100 and 110 °C were selected. In fact, for this
latter sample, the IP previously evaluated at 90 °C (Table 2)
was very high and the temperature of 80 °C would have
required a very long time of analysis.
The shelf life reported on the packing of each sample
was about 12 months; therefore, the results obtained with
the OXITEST were compared with that indicated on the
pack. In Table 3 are reported in detail the temperatures used
and the results obtained. It was noted that for the sample
biscuits with lemon was estimated a shelf life longer than
that indicated by the manufacturer. For taralli and bread-
sticks was calculated a shelf life that is closer, than the
other samples, to what indicated by the manufacturer. On

13

Table 3  Results of accelerated shelf-life test conducted with OXITEST
Samples Temperature (°C)
Biscuits with lemon 90 100
Taralli with hot chili pepper 80 90
Breadsticks with olive oil 80 90
Crackers with olives 80 90
the contrary, for the sample crackers with olives a reduced
shelf-life was estimated, compared with the shelf-life indi-
cated on the pack.
Conclusions
The studied bakery products showed a different stabil-
ity to oxidation reaction (IP value), depending on the type
of the fat used and on the product composition. “Biscuits
with lemon” were characterized by an initial highest IP
value with respect to all the other samples. Repeating every
4 months the analysis by OXITEST, all the products showed
a decrease in the IP value, but at different degree. In particu-
lar, for “crackers with olives” and “breadsticks with olive
oil” after 12 months the IP decrease was of about 50%,
whereas for “taralli with hot chili pepper” and for “biscuits
with lemon” the IP decrease was more reduced. The higher
oxidative stability of these latter could be attributed to the
ingredients used in the product formulation. For the crackers
with olives it was observed a fast and important deterioration
from chemical and sensory point of view, particularly after
4 months of storage. This has been confirmed by shelf-life
test performed with OXISoft program. So, considering the
shelf-life test results, the products had an increasing stabil-
ity in the following order: crackers with olives, breadsticks
with olive oil, taralli with hot chili pepper and biscuits with
lemon. Furthermore, the sensory analysis confirmed the data
obtained with the chemical and physical analyses, perceiving
the judges higher oxidation levels in the crackers with olives,
followed by breadsticks, taralli and biscuits with lemon. In
particular, the attributes that have obtained a higher score
were the oxidized aroma and flavor and the cardboard aroma
and flavor. Therefore, this study highlighted that the OXIT-
EST instrument could be useful in the food industry in order
to determine the shelf life of bakery foods. However, in order
to confirm the obtained data, it would be desirable to test this
instrument with other bakery products.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to express apprecia-
tion to Laurieri s.r.l. industry for supplying the samples. The authors
would also like to thank VELP Scientifica (Usmate, MB, Italy) for
lending the OXITEST instrument and Dr. Stefania Corti for the tech-
nical assistance.
13
Eur Food Res Technol
Estimated shelf life at 20 °C Estimated shelf
(months) life at 25 °C
110 22 16
100 16 11
100 15 10
100 5 3
Compliance with ethical standards 
Conflict of interest  The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Compliance with ethics requirements  This article does not contain
any studies with human or animal subjects.
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