Q.Explain the following :
Vitamin E is added to packed edible oil.

Step 1. What an antioxidant does. Section 16.1.2.5 defines an antioxidant as a substance that delays or slows the oxidation of food, extending shelf life, by reacting with the oxygen-containing free radicals that would otherwise attack the oil.

Step 2. Why vitamin E specifically works. Vitamin E (tocopherol) is a natural antioxidant; the phenolic -OH group in its structure is what gives it this antioxidant activity (it can donate a hydrogen atom to quench a free radical before it can start the oxidative chain reaction responsible for rancidity). …

Connecting vitamin E's two structural features (phenolic -OH, hydrocarbon tail) to its two functional roles (antioxid …

• Saying vitamin E is added 'for nutrition' rather than for its antioxidant/shelf-life-extending function, which is the specific reason given in this section. …