NATÜREL ZEYTİNYAĞI TAĞŞİŞİNİN TESPİTİNDE STEROL KOMPOZİSYONU, ECN42 FARKI VE FTIR SPEKTROSKOPİSİNİN KULLANIMININ KARŞILAŞTIRMALI OLARAK İNCELENMESİ

Due to its high price and consumer demand, virgin olive oil is an essential product vulnerable to deception for unfair economic gain. In our research, sunflower, palm olein and cottonseed oil were used as adulterants in different amounts for the preparation of adulterated samples. Sterol composition, the difference in theoretical and actual equivalent carbon number 42 triglycerides (ΔECN42) value and FTIR spectra were used to classify the adulterated and virgin olive oil samples. Decision trees on Δ7-stigmastenol and campesterol allowed the detection of 10% and higher adulteration. ΔECN42 ad FTIR provided good detection of the adulterated samples, even for the mixed oils at 1% concentration. However, the detecting performance of the FTIR decreased as the virgin olive oil sample set expanded with different seasons and varieties. Correct multivariate approach and FTIR data selection significantly influence the performance of FTIR spectroscopy for detecting VOO adulteration.