Thermodynamic, kinetic investigation and shelf life of Oreganum heracleoticum essential oil

Analytical and Physical Chemistry Department, University of Food Technologies, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

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Abstract

Essential oils and their main components are widely used in various industries. The essential oil of Oreganum heracleoticum is applied to improve a specific flavor to certain foods, to stabilize them and to increase their shelf life. It has been studied long-term for 45 days at three temperatures. The oxidation process is presented and the rate constant is determined based on the Arrhenius equation. They have values from 0.015 at 6°C to 0.064 1.day^-1 at 25°C. Then the shelf life prediction is presented. It varies in the range from 71 days at 6°C to 15 days at 25°C. The thermodynamic parameters presented different values. The Gibbs energy varies from 16.172 at 6°C to 16.413 kJ mol^-1 at 25°C. The enthalpy and entropy are respectively 11.748 kJ mol^-1 and 0.015 kJ mol^-1 K^-1.