Combination of an e-nose, an e-tongue and an e-eye for the characterisation of olive oils with different degree of bitterness

An electronic panel has been used to characterise the organoleptic characteristics of twenty-five extra virgin olive oils from varieties Hojiblanca, Picual and Arbequina, with different degree of bitterness. The method consists in the combination of three systems: electronic nose, electronic tongue and electronic eye. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA), where PC1, PC2 and PC3 explained 59% of the total variance between the samples, has demonstrated that the capability of discrimination of the combined system is superior to that obtained with the three instruments separately. This improvement is due to the increased information extracted from each sample. Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) has allowed separation of the groups in function of olive variety with a root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) lower than 0.099.Using PLS1 and PLS2 regression models, good correlations have been found between the signals obtained from the electronic tongue and the polyphenolic content (measured by chromatographic methods) or the bitterness index (scored by a panel of experts) with correlation coefficients higher than 0.9 in calibration and validation.These preliminary results indicate that the combination of an e-nose, an e-tongue and an e-eye can be a useful tool for the analysis of olive oil bitterness.     

Radial basis neural network for the classification of fresh edible oils using an electronic nose

An electronic nose utilising an array of six-bulk acoustic wave polymer coated Piezoelectric Quartz (PZQ) sensors has been developed. The nose was presented with 346 samples of fresh edible oil headspace volatiles, generated at 45°C. Extra virgin olive (EVO), Non-virgin olive oil (OI) and Sunflower oil (SFO), were used over a period of 30 days. The sensor responses were then analysed producing an architecture for the Radial Basis Function Artificial Neural Network (RBF). It was found that the RBF results were excellent, giving classifications of above 99% for the vegetable oil test samples.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Comparison of an Electronic Nose with the Sensory Evaluation of Food Products by “Triangle Test”

In this paper a novel approach for performing discriminative test in food quality control is reported. The method is based on the use of an electronic nose equipped with 10 Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) sensors, 12 Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) sensors and one humidity sensor. The pattern of the sensor responses generated by the electronic nose has been used for performing “objective” triangle tests in several food products. The results were compared with the data obtained by using standard methodology (triangle test) of sensory analysis (UNI ISO 4120 Norm). The e‐nose is able to classify correctly all the samples under study, while the sensory panel is able to correctly perform the test only in 50% of the cases. As compared with the sensory test, the electronic nose methodology is simple, rapid and results suggest that it can be useful tool for performing discriminative testing.     

Usefulness of the direct coupling headspace-mass spectrometry for sensory quality characterization of virgin olive oil samples

The applicability of the headspace coupled to mass spectrometry for evaluation of the sensory quality of virgin olive oil samples is presented. The volatiles of the oil are directly transferred from the sample vial to the detector without chromatographic separation. The mass spectrum obtained can be considered as a fingerprint of the oil sample and can be used for classification purposes. After a training step with samples previously qualified following the official method, a classification model was created using the supervised technique soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA). Eight negative (rancid, winey-vinegary, muddy sediment, hay-wood, vegetable water, earthy, fusty and musty-humidity) and three principal positive attributes (fruity, bitter and pungent) have been included in this study. With them, a classification model consisting of two main classes (extra- and lampante-virgin olive oil) was constructed. In addition, the unsupervised technique cluster analysis permited the discrimination among oils with different negative attributes. The proposed procedure has been applied to the classification of commercial samples (as extra- or lampante-virgin olive oils) and the results were compared with those provided by the expert's panel with acceptable correlation.     

Bio-inspired Sensor Fusion for Quality Assessment of Harumanis Mangoes

In recent years, there have been a number of reported studies on the use of non-destructive technique to evaluate and determine mango maturity and ripeness levels. However, most of these reported works were conducted using single-modality sensing systems, either using an electronic nose (e-nose), acoustics, CCD, IR sensor or by other non-destructive measurements. This paper presents the work on the classification of mangoes (Magnifera Indica cv. Harumanis) maturity and ripeness levels using data fusion of the electronic nose (e-nose) and acoustic sensor and combine with CCD and IR sensor. A Fourier-based shape separation method was developed from CCD camera images to grade mango by its shape and able to correctly classify 100%. Colour intensity from infrared image was used to distinguish and classify the level of maturity and ripeness of the fruits. The finding shows 92% correct classification of maturity levels by using infrared vision Three groups of samples each from two different harvesting times (week 7 and week 8) were evaluated by the e-nose and then followed by the acoustic sensor. By applying a low level data fusion technique on the e-nose and acoustic data, the classification for maturity and ripeness levels using LDA was improved.     

Principle of nonlinear chemical fingerprint by using dissipative components in samples as well as calculation and evaluation of similarity

Under the conditions of constant temperature and pressure,different influences of samples with different chemical components on the mechanism of nonlinear chemical reaction will cause different changes of the potential-time relationship curve of the nonlinear chemical reaction system.Using it as the character,and using the B-Z nonlinear chemical system to use acetone and substrates in samples as main dissipative substances qua an example,the principle of nonlinear chemical fingerprint has been researched and discussed in detail.At the same time,the general method for calculating the system similarity about nonlinear chemical fingerprint was also put forward,and similarities of nonlinear chemistry fingerprints of different batches of Guhan Yangshengjing and 18 sorts of other samples were calculated by Euclidean distance,correlation coefficient,included angle cosine and system similarity,at the same time,the various similarities were analyzed.The results showed that,both of correlation coefficient and included angle cosine are unable to be used as the criterion for quantitatively evaluating the similarity of nonlinear chemistry fingerprint;as non-parametric similarity,Euclidean distance can accurately reflect the feature differences in the fingerprints,but as parametric similarity,sometimes,Euclidean distance can not accurately reflect the relative extent of characteristic difference in the nonlinear chemical fingerprints;system similarity can most truthfully reflect the characteristic difference in the nonlinear chemical fingerprints,and is the best evaluating method among the four ones.Therefore,system similarity can be used to quantitatively calculate the similar extent between the nonlinear chemical fingerprints.An economical,simple and convenient,easy pushing and effective method for identifying and evaluating complicated samples has successfully been put forward.     

Direct olive oil authentication: detection of adulteration of olive oil with hazelnut oil by direct coupling of headspace and mass spectrometry, and multivariate regression techniques

Control of adulteration of olive oil, together with authentication and contamination, is one of the main aspects in the quality control of olive oil. Adulteration with hazelnut oil is one of the most difficult to detect due to the similar composition of hazelnut and olive oils; both virgin olive oil and olive oil are subjected to that kind of adulteration. The main objective of this work was to develop an analytical method able to detect adulteration of virgin olive oils and olive oils with hazelnut oil by means of its analysis by a headspace autosampler directly coupled to a mass spectrometer used as detector (ChemSensor). As no chromatographic separation of the individual components of the samples exists, a global signal of the sample is obtained and employed for its characterization by means of chemometric techniques. Four different crude hazelnut oils from Turkey were employed for the development of the method. Multivariate regression techniques (partial least squares and principal components analysis) were applied to generate adequate regression models. Good values were obtained in both techniques for the parameters employed (standard errors of prediction (SEP) and prediction residual error sum of squares (PRESS)) to evaluate its goodness. With the proposed method, minimum adulteration levels of 7 and 15% can be detected in refined and virgin olive oils, respectively. Once validated, the method was applied to the detection of such adulteration in commercial olive oil and virgin olive oil samples.     

Differentiation of red wines using an electronic nose based on surface acoustic wave devices

An electronic nose, utilizing the principle of surface acoustic waves (SAW), was used to differentiate among different wines of the same variety of grapes which come from the same cellar. The electronic nose is based on eight surface acoustic wave sensors, one is a reference sensor and the others are coated by different polymers by spray coating technique. Data analysis was performed by two pattern recognition methods; principal component analysis (PCA) and probabilistic neuronal network (PNN). The results showed that electronic nose was able to identify the tested wines.     

Independent components analysis coupled with 3D-front-face fluorescence spectroscopy to study the interaction between plastic food packaging and olive oil

Olive oil is one of the most valued sources of fats in the Mediterranean diet. Its storage was generally done using glass or metallic packaging materials. Nowadays, plastic packaging has gained worldwide spread for the storage of olive oil. However, plastics are not inert and interaction phenomena may occur between packaging materials and olive oil. In this study, extra virgin olive oil samples were submitted to accelerated interaction conditions, in contact with polypropylene (PP) and polylactide (PLA) plastic packaging materials. 3D-front-face fluorescence spectroscopy, being a simple, fast and non destructive analytical technique, was used to study this interaction. Independent components analysis (ICA) was used to analyze raw 3D-front-face fluorescence spectra of olive oil. ICA was able to highlight a probable effect of a migration of substances with antioxidant activity. The signals extracted by ICA corresponded to natural olive oil fluorophores (tocopherols and polyphenols) as well as newly formed ones which were tentatively identified as fluorescent oxidation products. Based on the extracted fluorescent signals, olive oil in contact with plastics had slower aging rates in comparison with reference oils. Peroxide and free acidity values validated the results obtained by ICA, related to olive oil oxidation rates. Sorbed olive oil in plastic was also quantified given that this sorption could induce a swelling of the polymer thus promoting migration.     

Rapid immunoanalytical method for the determination of atrazine residues in olive oil

A sensitive, simple and reliable method has been developed for the determination of atrazine in extra virgin olive oil. The analytical procedure involves direct extraction of the target analyte from oil matrix with methanol and a freezing clean-up step (–80 °C) followed by plate or sensor immunoassay determination. A detection limit of 0.7 ng/mL, with a dynamic range from 1.0 to 10.4 ng/mL, was reached. The method was highly selective for atrazine and propazine, showing little or no cross-reactivity to other similar compounds. The excellent recoveries obtained (mean value 91.3%) confirm the potential of this approach to detect atrazine in olive oil for application as screening and complementary method in pesticide regulatory and food safety programs. The proposed method correlates well with the reference gas chromatography (GC-MS) technique.     

Geographical classification of wine and olive oil by means of classification and influence matrix analysis (CAIMAN)

Classification and influence matrix analysis (CAIMAN) is a new classification method, recently proposed and based on the influence matrix (also called leverage matrix). Depending on the purposes of the classification analysis, CAIMAN can be used in three outlines: (1) D-CAIMAN is a discriminant classification method, (2) M-CAIMAN is a class modelling method allowing a sample to be classified, not classified at all, or assigned to more than one class (confused) and (3) A-CAIMAN deals with the asymmetric case, where only a reference class needs to be modelled.

In this work, the geographic classification of samples of wine and olive oil has been carried out by means of CAIMAN and its results compared with discriminant analysis, by focusing great attention on the model predictive capabilities. The geographic characterization has been carried out on three different datasets: extra virgin olive oils produced in a small area, with a “protected denomination of origin” label, wines with different denominations of origin, but produced in enclosed geographical areas, and olive oils belonging to different production areas.

Final results seem to indicate that the application of CAIMAN to the geographical origin identification offers several advantages: first, it shows – on an average basis – good performances; second, it is able to deal in a simple way classification problems related to tipicity, authenticity, and uniqueness characterization, which are of increasing interest in food quality issues.     

Use of flow injection atmospheric pressure photoionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry for fast olive oil fingerprinting

The recently introduced technique of an atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) source coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (QqTOFMS) has been applied to fast olive oil fingerprinting on the basis of the accurate mass measurements obtained with this instrumentation. The key compounds can be characterized as [M+H]+ (produced by proton transfer) or as [M]+* (by charge transfer) ions in the mass spectra. [M+H]+ ions, however, show higher abundance, especially for triacylglycerols. Other ions present in APPI-MS are the acylium ion [RiCO]+ and [RiCO-H2O]+. This latter ion is absent in the electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS spectra, and this represents valuable complementary information. Several critical parameters in the APPI source were optimized such as LC eluent composition, ion spray voltage and, especially, declustering potential. APPI-QqTOFMS allows easy discrimination among different edible oils: olive, extra virgin olive, olive-pomace, hazelnut, sunflower, corn and several mixed oils, with high throughput (approximately 1 min per sample). Cluster analysis was applied to obtain the best experimental conditions for oil discrimination on the basis of declustering potential. Principal components analyses of these APPI-MS spectra show that the approach can be used for studies of olive oil adulteration with other oils, even in the case of hazelnut oil that exhibits a high chemical similarity with olive oil.     

Determination of Dimethoate in Olive Oil by Adsorptive Stripping Square‐Wave Voltammetry

A method for the determination of dimethoate in olive oil by adsorptive stripping square‐wave voltammetry has been developed on the base that this pesticide is hydrolyzed in basic media giving rise to an adsorptive‐reductive peak at ?0.780 V. Extraction of dimethoate from olive oil with ethanol‐water and posterior clean‐up with C18 cartridges is carried out. Response Surface Methodology has been used for the optimization of the extraction procedure. A matrix effect is observed in olive oil extract; therefore the standard addition method must be used. The detection limit is 19.00 ng g^?1 and recoveries for three levels of fortification are ranged from 79.9% to 104.5%.     

Solid-phase microextraction of hop volatiles. Potential use for determination and verification of hop varieties

The composition of hop essential oil is an important tool for evaluation of hop quality. As each hop variety has a typical essential oil pattern (fingerprint), hop oil analyses can be used to distinguish between hop varieties. The headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) method as described in this contribution is a simple sample preparation technique and represents an alternative procedure for essential oil fingerprint determination. Different SPME parameters (extraction temperature, extraction time and sample mass) were studied and the results were compared with those obtained by the routine distillation method. It is shown that SPME results can be used for determination and verification of varieties grown in Slovenia by means of principal components analysis.     

A biohybrid dynamic random access memory

We report that GABA(A) receptors in a patch-clamped biological cell form a short-term memory circuit when integrated with a scanning-probe microfluidic device. Laminar patterns of receptor activators (agonists) provided by the microfluidic device define and periodically update the data input which is read and stored by the receptors as state distributions (based on intrinsic multistate kinetics). The memory is discharged over time and lasts for seconds to minutes depending on the input function. The function of the memory can be represented by an equivalent electronic circuit with striking similarity in function to a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) used in electronic computers. Multiplexed biohybrid memories may form the basis of large-scale integrated biocomputational/sensor devices with the curious ability to use chemical signals including odorants, neurotransmitters, chemical and biological warfare agents, and many more as input signals.     

Solid-phase extraction-thin-layer chromatography-gas chromatography method for the detection of hazelnut oil in olive oils by determination of esterified sterols

The sterol composition of extra virgin olive oil is very characteristic and, thus, has become a helpful tool to detect adulterations with other vegetable oils. Special attention has been addressed to the separate determination of the free and esterified sterol fractions, since both have different compositions and can thus provide more precise information about the actual origin of the olive oil. In the case of admixtures with small amounts of hazelnut oil, this approach can be extremely useful, because the similarity between the fatty acid compositions of both oils hampers the detection of the fraud. A hyphenated chromatographic method was developed for a sensitive and precise determination of esterified sterols in olive oils. The oil was subjected to silica solid-phase extraction (SPE) fractionation, cold saponification of the collected fraction and purification on silica TLC. The sterol band was then injected into an SPB-5 (30 m x 0.25 mm I.D., 0.25 microM film thickness) and the ratio [% campesterol x (% 7-stigmastenol)2]/(% 7-avenasterol) was calculated. The method was tested on extra virgin olive oil; good sterol recoveries and repeatability were obtained. The results were compared with another method. which has a different sample preparation sequence (silica column chromatography, hot saponification and silica TLC). Similar results were achieved with both methods; however, the SPE-cold saponification-TLC-capillary GC was faster, required less solvent and prevented sterol decomposition. The SPE-method was applied to an admixture with 10% of hazelnut oil and to a screening of 11 oils (husk oil, virgin and refined olive oils) from different Mediterranean countries.