Rancidity or Rancidifcation:
- The process in which unsaturated fats in food undergoes oxidation and hydrolysis produces a foul smell and becomes unfit to eat.
- During this biochemical process, the breaking down of long-chain fatty acids into short-chained compounds takes place.
- The rancid taste of the product is due to the production of butyric acid.
- It is the breaking down of lipids by the process of hydrolysis and oxidation. The splitting of fatty acid chains from the glycerol backbone in glycerides is caused by hydrolysis.