Development of electro-optics method for evaluation of quality degradation of some vegetable oils

In this research we present a development of electro-optics effect to evaluate vegetable oil quality degradation. Some vegetable cooking oil samples after heating were placed in an external electric field to obtain the electro-optical characteristics, by measuring the polarization change using green pointer laser (532 nm). The results showed that the change on natural polarization and electro-optics effect were proportional to the duration of heating. An important result showed that the percentage of reduction in the quality of olive oil is the greatest from palm oil, rice bran oil, and corn oil. This provides electro-optics as a very potential method in the cooking oil quality test system and provides a new perspective for further research improvement in other relevant fields. (paper)