Effect of Microwaves on Animal and Plant-Based Lipids

Use of electromagnetic radiation by microwaves, a common household equipment, to rapidly and effectively heat and reheat food, has revolutionized cooking. The potential impact on food, particularly food lipids, has drawn some concern. The creation of extremely reactive molecules known as free radicals during microwaving has been shown in studies to be a contributing factor to oxidative damage and the resulting food lipid oxidation. By causing lipid peroxidation, which is a step in this process, these free radicals also cause the creation of aldehydes and ketones. The kind of food, the amount of time it cooks for, and the power settings all affect how much the lipids in food cooked in a microwave is oxidized. It’s interesting to note that, despite certain studies suggesting harmful effects on dietary lipids, these finding have not always been substantiated. In fact, microwave-assisted extraction has become a cutting-edge technique for removing lipids from a variety of sources, including those derived from plants and animals. This chapter explores the complex interactions between microwave heating and lipids in plants and animals, as well as the creative application of microwaves to the extraction of lipids from numerous sources.