Multielement Characterization and Antioxidant Activity of Italian Extra-Virgin Olive Oils

Abstract

Food product safety and quality are closely related to the elemental composition of food. This study combined multielement analysis and chemometric tools to characterize 237 extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) samples from 15 regions of Italy, and to verify the possibility of discriminating them according to different quality factors, such as varietal or geographical origin or whether they were organically or traditionally produced. Some elements have antioxidant properties, while others are toxic to humans or can promote oxidative degradation of EVOO samples. In particular, the antioxidant activity of oils’ hydrophilic fraction was estimated and the concentrations of 45 elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). At first, univariate and multivariate analyses of variance were used to compare the element concentrations, and statistically significant differences were found among samples from different regions. Successively, discriminant classification approaches were used to build a model for EVOO authentication, considering, in turn, various possible categorizations. The results have indicated that chemometric methods coupled with ICP-MS have the potential to discriminate and characterize the different types of EVOO, and to provide “typical” elemental fingerprints of the various categories of samples.

Rare Earth Element Variability in Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oils from Abruzzo Region

“…Despite the limited data on REE contents available in the literature, the concentration range that we detected ranged between 0.09 and 4.22 ng g −1 , in accordance with the results of different authors, which were well summarized in a recent study [ 69 ], who reported ranges varying between 0.002 and 7 ng g −1 in olive oils from costal region. Our values also agree with those described by other authors in other areas [ 2 , 70 , 71 , 72 ]. In descending order, the most abundant REEs were Ce, Y, La, and Nd, which had mean values of 3.27, 2.18, 1.53, and 1.36 ng g −1 , respectively.…”

Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), a Useful Tool in Authenticity of Agricultural Products’ and Foods’ Origin

“…Consequently, the assurance of authenticity, high quality and purity of olive oil is a matter of great importance. For this purpose, investigating olive oil by means of ICP-MS analysis gains widespread scientific attention [ 9 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 , 132 , 133 , 134 , 135 , 136 , 137 , 138 , 139 , 140 ]. A considerable amount of literature has been published on Spanish, Italian, Tunisian, and Greek olive oil varieties.…”

Analysis of the lipidomic profile of vegetable oils and animal fats and changes during aging by UPLC-Q-exactive orbitrap mass spectrometry

“…10 The advantages of lipidomics in the analysis of degraded vegetable oils and animal fats are: (1) lipidomics is not the analysis of individual lipids, but the simultaneous study of whole lipids, analyzing vegetable oils and animal fats from a systematic perspective; [11][12][13] (2) lipidomics has led us to identify new signaling molecules, discover potential biomarkers for differences in vegetable oils and animal fats, and provide effective assistance for the distinction and traceability of vegetable oils and animal fats. [14][15][16] The innovation points of this study include: (1) compared with previous studies, this paper analyzes more types and quantities of samples and dynamically monitors the changes in the lipid composition and content of 13 different types of vegetable oils and animal fats during aging on ve different carriers; (2) solves the problem of difficult identication of aged vegetable oils and animal fats in forensic science. This paper simulates the changes in the lipid composition and content of vegetable oils and animal fats during aging on ve different carriers under extremely hot conditions.…”

“…10 The advantages of lipidomics in the analysis of degraded vegetable oils and animal fats are: (1) lipidomics is not the analysis of individual lipids, but the simultaneous study of whole lipids, analyzing vegetable oils and animal fats from a systematic perspective; 11–13 (2) lipidomics has led us to identify new signaling molecules, discover potential biomarkers for differences in vegetable oils and animal fats, and provide effective assistance for the distinction and traceability of vegetable oils and animal fats. 14–16…”