Acrylamide–Fat Correlation in Californian-Style Black Olives Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Californian-style is one of the most important black table olive elaborations. During its processing, table olives produce acrylamide, a potential carcinogen compound generated during sterilization. In the present study, total fat and acrylamide content in Californian-style table olives were determined and a regression between them was performed (acrylamide concentration range: below limit of detection—2500 ng g−1 and 8–22% for total fat). Nowadays, there are fast and efficient new techniques, such as Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure fat content parameters. In that sense, NIRS was used to perform a fat content quantification model in olives in order to indirectly determine acrylamide content. Calibration models for fat quantification were obtained in defatted olive pastes from a unique variety and for olive pastes from different varieties. In the first case, best results were obtained since only one variety was used (R2 = 0.9694; RMSECV = 1.31%; and REP = 8.4%). However, in the second case, results were still acceptable R2 = 0.678, RMSECV = 2.3%, REP = 17.7% and RMSEV = 2.17%. Regression coefficients showed the most influence variables corresponded with fat. The determination coefficient for the fat and acrylamide correlation was high (r = 0.877), being an efficient approach to find out the contribution of fat degradation to acrylamide synthesis in table olives.