CHAPTER 7: Application of FTIR Spectroscopy and Chromatography in Combination With Chemometrics for the Quality Control of Olive Oil

Edible fats and oils are essential for the human diet because they contain nutritional sources needed for daily life. However, owing to price discrepancies, some unethical sellers may adulterate expensive oils with lower quality oils. Olive oils (OOs) are valuable oils commanding high prices in the fats and oils industry, therefore OOs are commonly subjected to adulteration. Hence the development of analytical methods capable of detecting the adulteration of OOs has been under active investigation. Some official methods have been used for the quality control of OOs, such as gas chromatography with flame ionization detection for identifying fatty acid (FA) composition. All edible oils are characterized by specific parameters, including FA composition. The compositional difference of FAs in original OOs may indicate that there has been adulteration. In addition to official methods, some alternative methods such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy have been developed and validated for the quality control and authentication of OOs.