INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND INNOVATION CONGRESS -II
ANALYTICAL METHODS IN DISCRIMINATION OF FAKE OILS FOUND IN FOODS: NUCLEAR RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY (NMR)
Vegetable oils are one of the basic components of human nutrition, as they have an important place in the performance of various functions in our body. Oils are obtained from animal and plant sources. Oils found in foods play an important role in preserving the quality, texture and taste of foods, so the amount and quality of the oil composition in foods must be monitored. The quality of oils depends on multiple factors, such as the composition and ratio of fatty acids in the structure of oils, the presence of antioxidants and vitamins, and also impurities. Therefore, quality assessment should focus on determining the composition, origin and stability of the oil. However, lipid counterfeiting, which is expressed as the replacement of cheaper oils or solid oils with more expensive ones, leads to deceiving consumers and disrupting the market for original products. In addition, due to the effects of factors such as improper storage conditions of solid and liquid oils and high temperatures, heat and light applied during their production process, they undergo quality deterioration, causing the formation of compounds harmful to human health and losses in nutritional value. In recent years, alternative spectroscopic methods have been used instead of traditional methods to determine the quality of oils and to detect lipid counterfeiting. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, one of the spectroscopic methods, is a powerful, fast, non-destructive technique used to examine the structure and composition of organic molecules, including animal fats and vegetable oils. NMR spectroscopy helps us to gain information about oils in a single spectrum without pre-treatment and by preparing a minimum sample. In this study, the working principle and usage possibilities of NMR spectroscopy, which provides the opportunity to use in the quality control and evaluation of originality of edible solid and liquid oils, will be discussed.
