In this study, fatty acid composition of tung oil and the remaining fatty acid contents after oxidation were determined.
Moreover, the oxidative stability of α-ESA was compared with linoleic acid (LA), linolenic acid (LnA), ara�chidonic
acid (AA) and ecosapentaenoic acid (EPA) during auto-oxidation in the dark at 40°C. The results indicated that α-ESA content of tung oil was 79.45%. It was observed that the contents of remaining α-ESA, LA, LnA, AA and EPA after 24 h. were 0, 72.7, 53, 13 and 8.2%, respectively. Comparison between conjugated and non-conjugated fatty acids with the same number of double bonds showed that the conjugated fatty acid (CFA) declined more rapidly and fatty acid with more double bonds also degraded faster. The hydroperoxide content at 0.1, 0.2, 1 and 5% of α-ESA were 673, 762, 828 and 916 mM at 8 days and 40°C, respectively. Meanwhile, the peroxide content of methyl linoleate without α-ESA (control) was 563 mM at 8 days and 40°C.