Does Perilla Oil Need to Be Refrigerated? Korea's 40-Week Test
Does perilla oil need to be refrigerated? Korea's Rural Development Administration (농촌진흥청, RDA) says yes, and in 2016 it published the storage test behind that advice. Perilla oil (들기름, deulgireum) is pressed from perilla seeds, and Wikipedia's entry describes the oil from toasted seeds as a flavor enhancer, condiment and cooking oil in Korean cuisine. What the RDA storage test measured The RDA press release of 21 November 2016 is short. Researchers stored freshly pressed perilla oil at 4°C, 10°C and 25°C and tracked two lab measures of rancidity, the acid value (산가) and the peroxide value (과산화물가). At 25°C, ordinary room temperature, both values "급격히 늘어" (rose sharply) from week 20. At 4°C, the RDA reported no change in either value up to week 40. The release lists a 10°C group but, in the text I read, gives no result for it. Twenty weeks is about five months, and the release uses that figure itself. That clock started from oil that had just been pressed. A bot...