Evaluation of the Adulteration of Edible and Cosmetic Sunflower Oils by GC-FID and ESI-MS

Abstract

Sunflower oil has several properties that are valuable to the human skin and health; however, they are target of adulterations. In this study, in order to evaluate the authenticity of edible and cosmetics based on sunflower oils, the triacylglycerol (TAG) profiles using direct infusion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), the fatty acid (FA) composition by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) and principal component analysis, of seven commercial samples were determined and the results obtained were compared with the pure sunflower and soybean oils. Of the seven brands analyzed, just one sample presented only sunflower oil in its composition; two stated in the label soybean addition; and four did not present the real composition of the product in the label. Therefore, GC-FID and ESI-MS analysis in conjunction with principal component analysis (PCA) demonstrated that they are complementary techniques and could be applied in food industries to assess the quality of vegetable oils, since results showed the need for stricter quality control for this product.

First report on quality and purity assessment of sweet almond oil in Brazilian body oils by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry

“…Previous research applied PCA in conjunction with mass spectrometry data to distinguish vegetable oils from different plant species, such as soybean, sunflower, coconut, and sweet almond oil using the TAG profile obtained by ASAP‐MS 19 . Other studies also used PCA and mass spectrometry data to compare the composition of TAGs from Amazonian samples with common edible oils such as soybean, corn, coconut, and olive oils 46 and evaluate possible adulteration of sunflower oils with soybean oils using the data obtained by ESI‐MS 11 …”

“…These results are according to other studies found in the literature for sweet almond and soybean oils. 11,26,[28][29][30] Regarding body oils based solely on sweet almond oil (composition indicated in the label, Table 1), samples PSE, PSA, and PSD presented a fatty acid composition similar to pure sweet almond oil, with analogous content of oleic (59.25%-63.44%), α-linolenic (0.71%-1.91%), and linoleic acids (23.91%-28.16%). On the other hand, samples PSF, PSB, and PSC presented a fatty acid composition similar to soybean oil, with a high percentage of linoleic (>49.9%) and α-linolenic (>4.8%) acids (Table 2).…”

“…Therefore, there is an increasing demand for a chemical methodology capable of evaluating the purity and quality of vegetable oils 4,8 . Several works have investigated the quality of cosmetics based on vegetable oils by determining the fatty acid composition and triacylglycerol (TAG) profile through gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC‐FID) and direct infusion by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS), respectively 9–11 …”

“…Soybean oil was chosen as the adulterant because it is the cheapest vegetable oil commercialized in Brazil. 10,11,20 Finally, hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) was performed to visualize the similarities and differences between the samples using the TAG profiles obtained by ASAP-MS.…”

“…4,8 Several works have investigated the quality of cosmetics based on vegetable oils by determining the fatty acid composition and triacylglycerol (TAG) profile through gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and direct infusion by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), respectively. [9][10][11] Atmospheric solids analysis probe mass spectrometry (ASAP-MS) is an easy-to-use, simple, low cost, and rapid ionization technique that enables direct analysis of volatile and semi-volatile solid and liquid samples without the need for any sample preparation and solvents. [12][13][14][15] The temperature ramp applied in ASAP-MS allows volatilizing components according to their boiling points, with no chromatographic separation.…”