Pattern recognition analysis of 1H-NMR fingerprint data for the geographical authentication of virgin olive oils

Abstract

Food authenticity and food traceability are of great concern to the consumer,producer, food processor, retailer and regulatory bodies. An increasingly important issue ofauthenticity is the geographical origin, which is tackled in several EU regulations. RegardingEU Regulation No. 29/2012, the geographical origin of extra virgin and virgin olive oilsmust be declared on the label, referring to the EU, the EU member state or to the thirdcountry of origin, accordingly. In the case of blends of olive oils produced in more than oneEU or non-EU country or in both EU and non-EU countries, the corresponding blend mustbe specified on the label. In accordance with EU Regulation No. 2081/92, qualityagricultural food products, such as certain extra virgin and virgin olive oils, are permitted tobe marketed using a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or a Protected GeographicalIndication (PGI) label on the basis of their production area. Owing to the fact thatgeographical origin is among the main factors influencing consumer choice, and given thefinancial benefits associated with PDO/PGI labels, economic fraud is highly likely to occur,leading to a high rate of non-compliance related to false declaration of origin, labelling anon-PDO/PGI product as PDO/PGI, adulterating a PDO/PGI product with olive oils that donot fulfil the PDO/PGI requirements, among others. The lack of official analytical methodsto verify the declared geographical origin and the authenticity and traceability of PDO/PGIolive oils triggers counterfeiting. Therefore, validated methods are needed to address theseissues to protect both the consumer and the producer from illicit practices in this sector.In the present study, a statistical significant number of extra virgin and virgin oliveoils from EU and non EU countries (434 samples) collected during two harvest seasons werefingerprinted by 1H-NMR. Multivariate data analysis of the 1H-NMR fingerprint of theseolive oils allowed to achieve classification models to verify the geographical origin of EUand non-EU olive oils at the national and PDO/PGI levels.