Comprehensive Feedstuffs and Additives in Livestock Nutrition Practice Test

Antioxidants in feed are used to stop the oxidation of fats, preventing rancidity in lipids. Unsaturated fats are particularly susceptible to oxidation because their double bonds readily form free radicals in the presence of oxygen, heat, or light. Antioxidants donate stabilizing hydrogen atoms or scavenge free radicals, interrupting the lipid peroxidation chain reactions and preserving flavor, aroma, and nutritional quality. Proteins and carbohydrates can oxidize in other ways, but rancidity refers to lipid oxidation, and minerals don’t undergo this process. So antioxidants protect unsaturated fats from rancidity.