Toxicity of Fatty Acid autoxidation products: highest anti-microbial toxicity in the initial oxidative phase

The autoxidation-degradation processes of polyunsaturated fatty acids give rise to toxic products, and the relative toxicity at different stages of the process is of great interest. We report here that when methyl α-linolenate is exposed to sunlight and air, its antimicrobial activity against yeasts and bacteria (as measured by agar diffusion) reaches its maximum during the early oxidative phase when addition of oxygen occurs and the mass increases drastically. Before exposure, the activity is minimal or zero, but it increases rapidly during the first days of the test, simultaneously with the increase of the mass of the material, and begins to decrease while the mass is still increasing and before the mass begins to decrease due to degradation and formation of volatile compounds. Thus, the products formed during the degradation phase of the process are far less toxic to the test organisms than the compounds formed at the early stages when addition of oxygen occurs with maximal rate.