Mukhopadhyay, Asim K.

Antioxidants - Natural and Synthetic

It is a paradox that on one hand oxygen saves hundreds of critical patients by rejuvenating their lives, and has multiple users in industry including steel plants, on the other oxygen is the primary reason for oxidative degradation of foods and rancidity of fats and oils and polymers including plastics, rubber and also paints.
In other words oxygen surprisingly acts as a poison and a degrading agent - an inhibitor - for deterioration of food and related products particularly those in packed condition. To annul the negative effect of Oxygen, Nitrogen blanketing has been effectively used as an inhibitor of oxidative degeneration. At least this helps in increase of shelf life and protects the packaged materials for a longer period. It may however be added that some foods including fats and oils have inherent oxygen deterrents which neutralizes effect of oxygen for quite some time. Food and other products are also saved from aerobic bacteria and fungi due to elimination of oxygen or presence of minimal quantity of oxygen.
In this context anti-oxidants – a group of several organic substances including certain vitamins and minerals – have been found to counteract the damaging but otherwise normal, effects of the physiological process of oxidation. These antioxidants are also believed to play a role in preventing the development of a number of chromic diseases as cancer, heart disease, stroke etc.
Antioxidant chemistry has developed rapidly. In addition to antioxidants present in natural substances, scientists have developed a number of synthetic antioxidants, which have either replaced or supplemented natural antioxidants. Ironically antioxidants are not always effective or safe for a long period as they themselves are oxidized and their utility diminishes with time. Nevertheless antioxidants have effective uses for a reasonable time.