Growing need for Anti-oxidants
The need for anti-oxidants compounds has grown enormously over the years. Anti-oxidants are used in their natural and crude form, and they can also be derived synthetically in a laboratory. Tocotrienol and Tocopherol are considered to be two of the primary sources of anti-oxidants, and Vitamin E. Natural Vitamin E is responsible for its anti-cancer, cholesterol lowering, and neuroprotective properties. It should remain noted that these properties are not contained by tocopherols.
Anti-oxidants derived from tocopherol and tocotrienols are also used for industrial and commercial purposes. Also, chemists have speculated that free radicals of elements are eligible for causing oxidation—which could be tamed down by using anti-oxidants substances such as tocopherol substances and tocotrienols substances.
Role of Tocotrienol and Tocopherol as Anti-oxidants
It is speculated that Tocopherols are used in small proportions to act as anti-oxidants in a diverse range of edible products. Anti-oxidants are liberally used for pharmacological purposes to devise a treatment for stroke and neurodegenerative diseases. The use of anti-oxidants is not partial to edible items or pharmaceutical purposes but, they are also used vital components in dietary supplements that prove advantageous benefits in maintaining health and preventing malignant diseases that include cancer or heart diseases.
The use of tocopherol standards to generate anti-oxidants has grown enormously over the years, and they are used in moderate proportions to maintain their anti-oxidant properties. It is estimated that oils and food contain natural levels of tocopherol which explains their ability as anti-oxidants. If they are derived from processed oils, then the benefits obtained from them would be limited and marginal. Either way, the significance of anti-oxidants derived from tocopherols and tocotrienol cannot be estimated or underestimated.
Natural Anti-oxidants and Synthetic Anti-oxidants
On the contrary, it has experimented that synthetic anti-oxidants are capable of inhibiting lipid oxidation in a diverse range of edible items once it has interacted with the anti-oxidant property of the lipid radicals. It tends to differ in its structural and chemical composition, and it becomes responsible for conducting its anti-oxidating properties in tocopherol and tocotrienol standards respectively. The differentiation between the use of natural anti-oxidants and synthetic oxidants remain a debate. However, the primary reason for utilizing anti-oxidants triumphs the utilization of natural anti-oxidations—as synthetic anti-oxidants tends to increase the shelf-life of edible items. Also, it contributes to the reduction of wastage and nutritional losses by keeping oxidation at a minimal.