Herbal maceration modulates fatty acid profile of cold-pressed oils and preserves antioxidant activity during long-term storage

The study evaluated the effects of basil or sage supplementation (50-100 g added to 250 mL of cold-pressed oil) and long-term refrigerated storage on fatty acid composition, selected nutritional indices and total low molecular weight antioxidant activity (TAA) in cold-pressed oils. The study included black cumin, borage, evening primrose, safflower, walnut, hazelnut, rapeseed seed oils, and sea buckthorn-rapeseed oil. Fatty acid analysis revealed that the process of herb maceration resulted in a significant increase in the proportion of linoleic acid and a reduction in the proportion of saturated fatty acids in black cumin seed oil. Moreover, the analysis demonstrated an increase in the proportion of linoleic acid and a reduction in the proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids in sea-buckthorn-rapeseed oil. Furthermore, the addition of herbal additives to black cumin seed oil was found to enhance the nutritional indices of macerates. A significant decrease in TAA levels was observed following storage, however the herb addition improved TAA during storage. The TAA reduction was consistently smaller in herb-macerated oils compared with controls, except in black cumin seed oil macerates. The addition of sage was found to be particularly beneficial, particularly at the 100 g dose.