Effectiveness of determinations of fatty acids and triglycerides for the detection of adulteration of olive oils with vegetable oils

This paper investigates the effectiveness of the determinations of fatty acids and triglycerides in the detection of adulteration of olive oil with certain vegetable oils. Detection of adulteration up to the level of 5% was possible. The use of the established limits of fatty acid contents could detect the adulteration of olive oil with the six of the investigated vegetable oils. The established limits of the DeltaECN42 could be used to detect the adulteration of olive oil with the nine of the examined vegetable oils. Certain other parameters, based on differences of triglyceride and fatty acid compositions between olive oil and vegetable oils, could be used as discriminating factors between the olive oil and eight of the examined vegetable oils. However, no single known parameter could detect the presence of hazelnut and almond oils in olive oil, in percentages lower than or equal to 5%. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.