The olive oil and table olive industry generate large volumes of olive waste, and the adulteration of olive stone and olive pomace in ground black pepper was first identified at the end of the 19th century. Although screening methods have been developed to detect adulteration of black pepper, there is a need for a robust confirmatory test of the adulteration by olive by-products. Oleoropein, a phenolic compound responsible for the bitter taste in olives, is found in all constituent parts of the olive tree and fruit. Scientists at the McCormick & Co laboratories in France, UK and Italy have developed a method using Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE®) and LC-MS/MS to detect and identify oleuropein in olive by-products. The qualitative method was validated with prepared mixtures of black pepper and different olive by-products, and the limit of detection was well below the 1.5% extraneous matter permitted in the ISO standard for black pepper.
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