Evaluation of phenolics in the analysis of virgin olive oil using near infrared spectroscopy

Olive oil is an indispensable part of the diet in Mediterranean regions, and is appreciated worldwide for its sensory characteristics, combining a fine aroma and pleasant flavor with the high nutritional value of specific chemical compounds. However, making rapid measurements of phenolic compounds is a major challenge for the olive oil sector. The development of a new method based on near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy may be considered an important advance for the sector, as it is rapid, low-cost, non-contaminant and non-destructive. In this study, three different NIR instruments – one FT-NIR benchtop instrument (671.82–2702.70 nm) and two low-cost portable devices (900–1700 nm and 1350–2150 nm) – were used to analyze a collection of virgin olive oil samples from various Mediterranean regions. To predict both the individual and total concentration of phenols in the olive oil, four signal pretreatment methods and modified partial least squares regression analyses were employed to develop the predictive models. The results showed that the benchtop FT-NIR instrument performed better than the other portable instruments when measuring the phenolic compounds in virgin olive oil. The best models of hydroxytyrosol derivatives, tyrosol derivatives, total phenols and “EFSA phenols” showed R²_cv values of 0.84, 0.85, 0.88 and 0.89, while the RPD_cv values were 2.51, 2.61, 2.93 and 2.95, respectively. Meanwhile, for the portable NIR instruments, the prediction models for hydroxytyrosol derivatives, total phenols and “EFSA phenols” (the sum of the hydroxityrosol and tyrosol derivatives) showed R²_cv values ranging between 0.75 and 0.81 and an RPD_cv between 2 and 2.5. These results indicate the great potential of NIR, both with benchtop and portable devices, to detect phenolic compounds in virgin olive oil, which can guarantee the quality of virgin olive oil and thus aid progress in the olive oil industry. Moreover, this is the first published work to determine phenolic compounds in virgin olive oil using portable NIR instruments.