Detection of adulteration in olive oils using optical and thermal methods

Abstract

Quantification of olive oils is an important issue because of frequent adulteration with cheaper oils such as soybean, sunflower or canola. The standard chemical methods used to determine the chemical content of the oils are usually time-consuming, laboratory intensive and expensive. Therefore, we have tested three physical methods measuring refractive indices and their dispersion curves, fluorescence spectra and DSC spectra that are related to the chemical structure and content of the olive oils. These methods are fast, easy to perform and do not require any additional chemical agents. Two groups of olive oils – pure and adulterated, were investigated.