THE PARTITIONING OF DIACETYL BETWEEN FOOD OILS AND WATER

The distribution of diacetyl between water and oils has been determined in order to predict whether diacetyl can offer the same level of preservation in fatty foods as it can in non-fatty foods. The partition coefficients were found to be approximately 0.2 for rapeseed oil and 0.3 for olive, sunflower, and blended-vegetable oils. Experimentation showed that the partition coefficient could be used to predict the antimicrobial effect of diacetyl in an oil/medium system. The differences between the oil/water system tested and a food system are discussed.