Potential of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for the Authentication of Vegetable Oils

Abstract

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used in conjunction with principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis to investigate the potential of the technique for determining the authenticity of vegetable oils. PCA applied to spectra from a range of seed oils revealed clustering according to plant species. When extra virgin and refined olive oils were subjected to discriminant analysis, 93% of samples in a calibration set and 100% of samples in an independent validation set were correctly classified, despite these two types of oil being chemically and spectroscopically very similar. The method, therefore, has potential as a rapid method for the determination of product authenticity.