Pretreatment and Thermal Stability of Idesia polycarpa Virgin Oil

As a novel woody oilseed, the application of <i>Idesia polycarpa</i> in oil processing has been limited by the lack of systematic research. In this study, the effects of different drying methods, impurity contents, and filtration cycles on the quality of <i>Idesia polycarpa</i> virgin oil were evaluated using physicochemical indicators such as acid value (AV), phospholipid content, color, etc. The thermal stability of the obtained <i>Idesia polycarpa</i> virgin oil was also assessed under high-temperature heating conditions in comparison with refined oil, soybean oil, and rapeseed oil. The results indicated that oil with higher transparency was obtained by microwave vacuum drying with zero impurity content and five filtration cycles with a peroxide value of 11.03 meq/kg and a phospholipid content of 1.07 mg/g. After high-temperature heating, lower total oxidation values (TOTOX = 106.05 ± 1.63) and polar compounds (7.99 ± 0.54 meq/kg) were detected in <i>Idesia polycarpa</i> virgin oil (IPVO) compared with soybean oil and rapeseed oil, confirming superior thermal stability. Overall, IPVO yield was improved and exceptional thermal stability was achieved by this pretreatment, underscoring its potential as a functional cooking oil for high-temperature culinary applications.