News

EVOO is one of the foods lidentified as being very vulnerable to food fraud. This comprehensive review examines the  application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to EVOO as a reliable and rapid tool to verify different aspects of its adulteration, such as undeclared blends with cheaper oils and cultivar, and geographical origin mislabelling. NMR makes it possible to use both targeted and untargeted approaches, and to determine the olive oil metabolomic profile and the quantification of its constituents.

Read the full open access paper here

Olive oil, especially extra virgin oilive oil (EVOO), is highly valued for its organoleptic and nutritional qualities. In this study, more than 200 monovarietal (Koroneiki) EVOO samples were collected from the main Greek olive oil producing regions. They were analysed using Flow Injection Analysis-Magnetic Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FIA-MRMS), which directly injects the oil into the mass spectrometer, to determine a metabolite profile. In parallel, the same oils were analysed using an LC-Orbitrap MS (Liquid Chromatograpy-Mass Spectrometry) platform to verify the efficiency of the method, as well as a tool to increase the identification confidence of the proposed markers.  The results obtained by FIA-MRMS analysis generated improved projection and prediction models in comparison to those of the more established LC-MS methodology. Also with FIA-MRMS, more statistically significant compounds and chemical classes were identified as quality and authenticity markers, which were associated with specific authenticity issues, i.e. geographical region, cultivation practice, and production procedures. 

Read the full paper

Researchers at the University of Nebraska carried out an interesting robust study to examine how information about food fraud incidents affects consumers’ valuation of products. Specifically, the study examined:

- changes in consumers’ valuation of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) after they received information about food fraud,

- how information about food fraud attributable to one country affects valuation for products from other countries, and

- how information about food fraud affects the valuation of olive oils in different price segments.

   Read the article at: consumer EVOO study