Safety
Synthetic antioxidants: They have toxic side effects and have bad effects on the human heart, lungs, and liver, and their safety is a potential concern, and their use has been limited or banned in many countries, such as BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (dibutylated hydroxytoluene), PG (propyl gallate), and TBHQ (tertiary-butylhydroquinone), among others.
Natural antioxidants: Rosemary extract, for example, has passed the safety evaluation test (LD50: 12g/kg body weight) stipulated by the Chinese Ministry of Health and is classified as a permitted food additive with high safety.
Antioxidant efficiency
Synthetic antioxidants: low antioxidant efficiency.
Natural antioxidants: The antioxidant efficiency of natural rosemary extract, for example, is at least 3 - 6 times higher than that of synthetic oxidants.
Thermal stability
Synthetic antioxidants: not mentioned to have outstanding thermal stability related characteristics.
Natural antioxidants: For example, the main chemical components in rosemary extract, such as rosemarinol, rhamnol and rhamnolic acid, are highly active antioxidant components, which are non-volatile and have good thermal stability, and can withstand high temperature frying at 190℃ for a long time and still have antioxidant effects.
Scope of application
Synthetic antioxidants: Narrow application scope, there are export restrictions1.
Natural antioxidants: the main demand comes from the food industry and pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields, in which in the food field, it can be used as additives for rich fried foods and animal and vegetable fats, and also as freshness preservatives for fried and baked foods, which has a relatively wider range of applications.
Bacteriostatic effect
Synthetic antioxidants: poor antibacterial effect.
Natural antioxidants: No outstanding antibacterial effect related characteristics mentioned.
Cost and price
Synthetic antioxidants: Usually the production cost is relatively low and the price is cheaper.
Natural antioxidants: the extraction process is relatively complex, resulting in high prices.
