Uso delle tecniche di Spettrometria di massa per l'analisi della qualità dell'olio di oliva

Thesis in ¿APPLICATION OF MASS SPECTROMETRIC TECHNIQUES FOR OLIVE OIL QUALITY¿ In the present study, the accuracy of the Ultrahigh Resolution Mass Spectrometry equipped with Orbitrap and electronspray source has permitted to show a detailed molecular composition of the TAGs that composed the edible oils. This, improves the use of this instrument to detect the adulteration of olive oil with oils of lower quality. Adulteration of olive oil is a serious problem both for regulatory agencies and for consumers' health threat when oil is adulterated with other edible compounds. Detecting the mass profiling of the major constituents of these samples adulterated, permits to visualize the ratio between the different peaks and how they change, when the olive oil is adulterated at the different percentages. The construction of two models, through statistic analysis, according to the main fatty acid of the adulterant (oleic and linoleic) allowed discriminating between a pool of 90 genuine oils and blends of OO and EVOO with amounts = > 2% of High oleic > 2% of High linoleic
Although wider sampling and external validation will be necessary to enhance the robustness of the models, the proposed analytical strategy is a tool to detect illegal blends of OOs with low amounts of other vegetable oils.