Natural vitamin E has strong antioxidant properties. Due to its structure, it has a structure that produces phenolic oxygen. The resulting phenolic oxygen can be quenched and reacted with singlet oxygen to protect unsaturated lipids. Damaged by singlet oxygen, it can also be oxidized by superoxide anion radicals and hydroxyl radicals, so that unsaturated oils are protected from free radical attack, thereby inhibiting the automatic oxidation of oil. In most cases, the antioxidant action of vitamin E is to react with lipoxygen radicals or lipid peroxyl radicals, providing them with H, interrupting the lipid peroxidation chain reaction, thereby achieving antioxidant activity.
Since the discovery of vitamin E by researchers at the University of California in 1920, people have paid close attention to their antioxidant properties and have a clear understanding of their antioxidant capacity in practice.
The antioxidant function of various tocopherols is generally: α>β>γ>ζ; tocotrienol is greater than the corresponding tocopherol. The antioxidant activity of natural vitamin E is stronger than that of vitamin E, slightly stronger than BHT, and weaker than TBHQ. The antioxidant capacity of vitamin E is quite strong.