Molecular imprinting solid phase extraction for selective detection of methidathion in olive oil

A specific adsorbent for extraction of methidathion from olive oil was developed. The design of the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was based on the results of the computational screening of the library of polymerisable functional monomers. MIP was prepared by thermal polymerisation using N,N’-methylene bisacrylamide (MBAA) as a functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a cross-linker. The polymers based on the itaconic acid (IA), methacrylic acid (MAA) and 2-(trifluoromethyl)acryl acid (TFMAA) functional monomers and one control polymer which was made without functional monomers with cross-linker EGDMA were also synthesised and tested. The performance of each polymer was compared using corresponding imprinting factor. As it was predicted by molecular modelling the best results were obtained for the MIP prepared with MBAA. The obtained MIP was optimised in solid-phase extraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography (MISPE-HPLC-UV) and tested for the rapid screening of methidathion in olive oil. The proposed method allowed the efficient extraction of methidathion for concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 9 mg L⁻¹ (r² = 0.996). The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) in olive oil were 0.02 mg L⁻¹ and 0.1 mg L⁻¹, respectively. MIPs extraction was much more effective than traditional C18 reverse-phase solid phase extraction.     

Pyrolysis of vegetable oil soaps—Palm, olive, rapeseed and castor oils

Saponified, palm, olive, rapeseed and castor oils were pyrolysed (at 750 °C for 20 s) by pyrolysis gas chromatography with mass selective and flame ionisation detection (Py-GC/MSD and FID) to clarify their thermochemical behaviours. The liquefiable compounds recovered from palm, olive and rapeseed oils mainly contained linear alkenes (up to C₁₉) and alkanes (up to C₁₇), both similar to those found in gasoline (C₄-C₁₀) and diesel fuel (C₁₁-C₂₂) boiling range fractions of petroleum, whereas in the case of castor oil a significant amount of undesired oxygen-containing products (e.g., ketones and phenols) were formed. The obtained data on reaction mechanisms can also be utilised in applications where various biofuels are produced, for example, from the extractive-derived by-product (tall oil) of kraft pulping.     

Electrophoretic identification and quantitation of compounds in the polyphenolic fraction of extra-virgin olive oil

A capillary zone electrophoresis method has been carried out to determine and quantitate some compounds of the polyphenolic fraction of virgin olive oil which have never previously been determined before using capillary electrophoresis, such as elenolic acid, ligstroside aglycon, oleuropein aglycon, and (+)-pinoresinol. The compounds were identified using standards obtained by semipreparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A detailed method optimization was performed to separate the phenolic compounds present in olive oil using a methanol-water extract of Picual extra-virgin olive oil, and different extraction systems were compared (C18-solid phase extraction (SPE), Diol-SPE, Sax-SPE and liquid-liquid extraction). The optimized parameters were 30 mM sodium tetraborate buffer (pH 9.3) at 25 kV with 8 s hydrodynamic injection, and the quantitation was carried out by the use of two reference compounds at two different wavelengths.     

Determination of betaines in vegetable oils by capillary electrophoresis tandem mass spectrometry--application to the detection of olive oil adulteration with seed oils

A CE–tandem mass spectrometry (MS²) methodology enabling the simultaneous determination of betaines (glycine betaine, trigonelline, proline betaine and total content of carnitines) in vegetable oils was developed. Betaines were derivatized with butanol previous to their baseline separation in 10 min using a 0.1 M formic acid buffer at pH 2.0. Ion trap conditions were optimized in order to maximize the selectivity and sensitivity. Analytical characteristics of the proposed method were established by evaluating its selectivity, linearity, precision (RSDs ranged from 4.8 to 10.7% for corrected peak areas) and accuracy by means of recovery studies (from 80 to 99%) and LODs and LOQs at 0.1 ppb level. The method was applied for the determination of the selected betaines in seed oils and extra virgin olive oils. MS² experiments provided the fingerprint fragmentation for the betaines identified in vegetable oils. In extra virgin olive oils, carnitines were not detected, making it possible to propose them as a feasible novel marker for the detection of adulterations of olive oils. Application of the developed method for the analysis of different mixtures of extra virgin olive oil with seed oil (between 2 and 10%) enabled the detection and quantitation of the total content of carnitines. The results obtained show the high potential of the developed method for the authentication and quality control of olive oils.     

Determination of fenthion and fenthion-sulfoxide, in olive oil and in river water, by square-wave adsorptive-stripping voltammetry

Square-wave adsorptive-stripping voltammetry technique has been used to develop a method for the determination of fenthion in olive oil. Due to the fact that fenthion does not give any electrochemical signal at mercury electrode, the method has been based on a previous oxidation of fenthion to its metabolite, fenthion-sulfoxide, by using KMnO₄. The metabolite gives rise to a peak due to an adsorptive-reductive process at −0.786 V. Fenthion is isolated from olive oil by carrying out a solid–liquid extraction procedure using silica cartridge, followed by a liquid–liquid partitioning with acetonitrile. The detection limit in olive oil is 78.8 ng g⁻¹ and recoveries for four levels of fortification are ranged from 85% to 109%. On the other hand, it has been developed a method for the simultaneous determination of fenthion and its metabolite fenthion-sulfoxide, in river water. Pesticides are isolated from water by carrying out a liquid–liquid partitioning with trichloromethane. The detection limits are 0.41 ng g⁻¹ and 0.44 ng g⁻¹, for fenthion and fenthion-sulfoxide, respectively. Recoveries for three levels of fortification are ranged from 96% to 103% for fenthion and 94% to 104% for fenthion-sulfoxide.     

CE- and HPLC-TOF-MS for the characterization of phenolic compounds in olive oil

We present an easy and rapid method for the analysis of phenolic compounds in extra-virgin olive oil by CZE coupled with ESI-TOF-MS. Optimum electrophoretic separation was obtained using a basic carbonate electrolyte. We thus achieved the determination of several important families (phenyl alcohols, phenyl acids, lignans, flavonoids, and secoiridoids) of the polar fraction of the olive oil. Furthermore, other "unknown" compounds were also identified. In addition to the CZE method, HPLC analyses were made, separating compounds belonging to the main families present in this polyphenolic fraction, as well as other new compounds. We compared the results obtained with both techniques and found it was possible to determine more than 45 compounds with both methods. The sensitivity, together with mass accuracy and true isotopic pattern of the TOF-MS, allowed the identification of a broad series of known and so far not described phenolic compounds present in extra-virgin olive oil.     

A simple and rapid electrophoretic method to characterize simple phenols, lignans, complex phenols, phenolic acids, and flavonoids in extra-virgin olive oil

We have devised a simple and rapid capillary electrophoretic method which provides the analyst with a useful tool for the characterization of the polyphenolic fraction of extra-virgin olive oil. This method that uses a capillary with 50 microm id and a total length of 47 cm (40 cm to the detector) with a detection window of 100 x 200 microm, and a buffer solution containing 45 mM of sodium tetraborate pH 9.3 offers valuable information about all the families of compounds present in the polar fraction of the olive oil. The detection was carried out by UV absorption at 200, 240, 280, and 330 nm in order to facilitate the identification of the compounds. Concretely, the method permits the identification of simple phenols, lignans, complex phenols (isomeric forms of secoiridoids), phenolic acids, and flavonoids in the SPE-Diol extracts from extra-virgin olive oil in a short time (less than 10 min) and provides a satisfactory resolution. Peak identification was done by comparing both migration time and spectral data obtained from olive oil samples and standards (commercial or isolated (by HPLC-MS) standards), with spiked methanol-water extracts of olive oil with HPLC-collected compounds and commercially available standards at several concentration levels, studying the information of the electropherograms obtained at several wavelengths and also using the information previously reported.     

High‐performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection for the rapid analysis of pheophytins and pyropheophytins in virgin olive oil

Pheophytins and pyropheophytin are degradation products of chlorophyll pigments, and their ratios can be used as a sensitive indicator of stress during the manufacturing and storage of olive oil. They increase over time depending on the storage condition and if the oil is exposed to heat treatments during the refining process. The traditional analysis method includes solvent‐ and time‐consuming steps of solid‐phase extraction followed by analysis by high‐performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. We developed an improved dilute/fluorescence method where multi‐step sample preparation was replaced by a simple isopropanol dilution before the high‐performance liquid chromatography injection. A quaternary solvent gradient method was used to include a fourth strong solvent wash on a quaternary gradient pump, which avoided the need to premix any solvents and greatly reduced the oil residues on the column from previous analysis. This new method not only reduces analysis cost and time but shows reliability, repeatability, and improved sensitivity, especially important for low‐level samples.     

On-line HPLC-HRGC coupling and simultaneous transfer of two different LC fractions: Determination of aliphatic alcohols and sterols in olive oil

A modified loop-type interface is decribed which uses two 6-way valves and concurrent eluent evaporation to perform an on-line transfer and simultaneous gas chromatographic analysis of two different fractions pre-separated by liquid chromatography. The interface is used to simultaneously analyze aliphatic alcohols and sterols present in olive oil. LC pre-separation is carried out using a normal phase column (20 cm × 0.21 cm i.d.) and hexane-isopropanol (99:1) as a mobile phase at a flow of 0.2 ml/min; for the GC analysis a 5 % phenyl, 95 % dimethyl siloxane (25 m × 0.32 mm i.d., 0.4 μm film thickness) column is used.     

Microwave-assisted extraction at atmospheric pressure coupled to different clean-up methods for the determination of organophosphorus pesticides in olive and avocado oil

An effective extraction method was devised for the determination of organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) in olive and avocado oil samples, using atmospheric pressure microwave-assisted liquid–liquid extraction (APMAE) and solid-phase extraction or low-temperature precipitation as clean-up step. A simple glass system equipped with an air-cooled condenser was designed as an extraction vessel. The pesticides were partitioned between acetonitrile and oil solution in hexane. Analytical determinations were carried out by gas chromatography-flame photometric detection and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, using a triple quadrupole mass analyzer, for confirmation purposes. Several factors influencing the extraction efficiency were investigated and optimized through fractional factorial design and Doehlert design. Under optimal conditions the recovery of pesticides from oil at 0.025 μg g⁻¹ ranged from 71% to 103%, except for fenthion in avocado oil, with RSDs ≤13% (n = 5). The LOQ for the entire method ranged from 0.004 to 0.015 μg g⁻¹. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to the extraction and determination of the selected pesticides in 20 commercially packed extra virgin olive oils and four commercially packed avocado oils produced in Chile. Detectable residues of different OPPs were observed in 85% of samples.     

Determination of trace elements in olive oil by ICP-AES and ETA-AAS: A pilot study on the geographical characterization

The determination of trace elements in edible oils is important because of both the metabolic role of metals and possibilities for adulteration detection and oil characterization.The most commonly used techniques for the determination of metals in oil samples are inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). For this study, a microwave assisted decomposition of the olive oil in closed vessels using a mixture of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide was applied as sample preparation.The low achievable LODs enable the determination by ICP-AES of even very low concentrations of most elements of interest. The proposed ICP-AES method permits the determination of Ca, Fe, Mg, Na, and Zn in olive oils. Elements present in small amounts (Al, Co, Cu, K, Mn, Ni) were measured by ETA-AAS in the same sample digest. The concentrations of Al, Co, Cu, K, Mn, and Ni were in the range from 0.15 to 1.5 μg/g and differ according to the geographical origin of the oils. For the amounts of Fe, Mg, Na, and Zn in the samples, no significant differences according to the geographical origin of the oils could be observed, the mean concentrations being 15.31, 3.26, 33.10, and 3.39 μg/g, respectively. The Ca content varies in the range of 1.3 to 9.0 μg/g.The dependency of the trace elemental content of olive oils on their geographical origin can be used for their local characterization.     

Rapid determination of BTEXS in olives and olive oil by headspace-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS)

In this work, a straightforward, reliable and effective automated method has been developed for the direct determination of monoaromatic volatile BTEXS group (namely benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-, m- and p-xylenes, and styrene) in olives and olive oil, based on headspace technique. Separation, identification and quantitation were carried out by headspace-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS) in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. Sample pretreatment or clean-up were not necessary (besides olives milling) because the olives and olive oil samples are put directly into an HS vial, automatically processed by HS and then injected in the GC-MS for chromatographic analysis. The chemical and instrumental variables were optimized using spiked olives and olive oil samples at 50 μg kg⁻¹ of each targeted species. The method was validated to ensure the quality of the results. The precision was satisfactory with relative standard deviations (RSD (%)) in the range 1.6-5.2% and 10.3-14.2% for olive oil and olives, respectively. Limits of detection were in the range 0.1-7.4 and 0.4-4.4 μg kg⁻¹ for olive oil and olives, respectively. Finally, the proposed method was applied to the analysis of real olives and olive oil samples, finding positives of the studied compounds, with overall BTEXS concentration levels in the range 23-332 μg kg⁻¹ and 4.2-87 μg kg⁻¹ for olive oil and olives, respectively.     

Determination of eight polyphenols and pantothenic acid in extra‐virgin olive oil samples by a simple,fast, high‐throughput and sensitive ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method

A new ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry method for a fast and sensitive determination of eight polyphenols (hydroxytyrosol, catechin, epicatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, oleuropein, quercetin, rutin, tyrosol) and panthotenic acid in extra‐virgin olive oil was developed. The method does not require long sample pre‐treatment and presents the lowest limit of detection and limit of quantitation values present in literature. Inter‐ and intra‐day variability, linear dynamic range of the calibration curve, recovery and matrix effect were also determined and investigated. The method was applied to several oil samples of different type and origin. Given its accuracy, precision and rapidity, the method is characterized by an interestingly high throughput, reliability, and sensitivity.     

Direct, reagent-free determination of free fatty acid content in olive oil and olives by Fourier transform Raman spectrometry

Fourier transform (FT) Raman spectrometry in combination with partial least squares (PLS) regression was used for direct, reagent-free determination of free fatty acid (FFA) content in olive oils and olives. Oils were directly investigated in a simple flow cell. Milled olives were measured in a dedicated sample cup, which was rotated eccentrically to the horizontal laser beam during spectrum acquisition in order to compensate sample heterogeneity. Both external and internal (leave-one-out) validation were used to assess the predictive ability of the PLS calibration models for FFA content (in terms of oleic acid) in oil and olives in the range 0.20-6.14 and 0.15-3.79%, respectively. The root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) was 0.29% for oil and 0.28% for olives. The predicted FFA contents were used to classify oils and olives in different categories according to the European Union regulations. Ninety percent of the oil samples and 80% of the olives were correctly classified. These results demonstrate that the proposed procedures can be used for screening of good quality olives before processing, as well as, for the on-line control of the produced oil.     

Detection and quantification of phenolic compounds in olive oil by high resolution H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

High resolution ¹H NMR spectroscopy has been employed as a versatile and rapid method to analyze the polar fraction of extra virgin olive oils containing various classes of phenolic compounds. The strategy for identification of phenolic compounds is based on the NMR chemical shifts of a large number of model compounds assigned by using two-dimensional (2D) NMR spectroscopy. Furthermore, 2D NMR was applied to phenolic extracts in an attempt to discover additional phenolic compounds. The ¹H NMR methodology was successful in detecting simple phenols, such as p-coumaric acid, vanillic acid, homovanillyl alcohol, vanillin, free tyrosol, and free hydroxytyrosol, the flavonols apigenin and luteolin, the lignans (+) pinoresinol, (+) 1-acetoxypinoresinol and syringaresinol, two isomers of the aldehydic form of oleuropein and ligstroside, the dialdehydic form of oleuropein and ligstroside lacking a carboxymethyl group, and finally total hydroxytyrosol and total tyrosol reflecting the total amounts of free and esterified hydroxytyrol and tyrosol, respectively. The absolute amount of each phenolic constituent was determined in the polar fraction by using anhydrous 1,3,5-triazine as an internal standard.     

Enhancing sensitivity and selectivity in the determination of aldehydes in olive oil by use of a Tenax TA trap coupled to a UV-ion mobility spectrometer

A Tenax TA trap was coupled to an ion mobility spectrometer in order to improve basic analytical properties such as sensitivity and selectivity. The analytical performance of this combination was assessed in the determination of volatile aldehydes between 3 and 6 carbon atoms present in olive oil. The aldehydes were extracted and adsorbed into the trap, from which they were thermally desorbed for analysis by UV-Ion Mobility Spectrometry (UV-IMS). Sensitivity was increased by the preconcentration step and selectivity by the combination of temperature programmed thermal desorption and the ability of the ion mobility spectrometer to monitor the desorbed analytes in real time. The limits of detection obtained were lower than 0.3 mg kg(-1) and the relative standard deviation lower than 10%. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to identify significant differences between olive oil grades in terms of peak heights for the target aldehydes.     

Determination of pesticide residues in olives and olive oil by matrix solid-phase dispersion followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

A novel analytical approach has been developed and evaluated for the quantitative analysis of a selected group of widely used pesticides (dimethoate, simazine, atrazine, diuron, terbuthylazine, methyl-parathion, methyl-pirimiphos, endosulfan I, endosulfan II, endosulfan sulphate, cypermethrin and deltamethrin), which can be found at trace levels in olive oil and olives. The proposed methodology is based on matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD), (with a preliminary liquid-liquid extraction in olive oil samples) using aminopropyl as sorbent material with a clean-up performed in the elution step with Florisil, followed by mass spectrometric identification and quantitation of the selected pesticides using both gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) in positive ionization mode. The recoveries obtained (with mean values between 85 and 115% (obtained at different fortification levels) with RSD values below 10% in most cases, confirm the usefulness of the proposed methodology for the analyses of these kind of complex samples with a high fat content. Moreover, the obtained detection limits, which were below 5 microg kg(-1) by LC-MS analyses and ranged from 10 to 60 microg kg(-1) by GC-MS meet the requirements established by the olive oil pesticide regulatory programs. The method was satisfactorily applied to different olives and olive oil samples.     

Nano and rapid resolution liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry to identify and quantify phenolic compounds in olive oil

The applicability of nanoLC‐ESI‐TOF MS for the analysis of phenolic compounds in olive oil was studied and compared with a HPLC method. After the injection, the compounds were focused on a short capillary trapping column (100 μm id, effective length 20 mm, 5 μm particle size) and then nanoLC analysis was carried out in a fused silica capillary column (75 μm id, effective length 10 μm, 3 μm particle size) packed with C18 stationary phase. The mobile phase was a mixture of water + 0.5% acetic acid and ACN eluting at 300 nL/min in a gradient mode. Phenolic compounds from different families were identified and quantified. The quality parameters of the nanoLC method (linearity, LODs and LOQs, repeatability) were evaluated and compared with those obtained with HPLC. The new methodology presents better sensitivity (reaching LOD values below 1 ppb) with less consumption of mobile phases, but worse repeatability, especially inter‐day repeatability, resulting in more difficulties to get highly accurate quantification. The results described in this article open up the application fields of this technique to cover a larger variety of compounds and its advantages will make it especially useful for the analysis of samples containing low concentration of phenolic compounds, as for instance, in biological samples.     

Simple and fast determination of phenolic compounds from different varieties of olive oil by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis with UV‐visible and fluorescence detection

In this article, we proposed very simple procedures to analyze important phenolic compounds in olive oil samples from different olive varieties. A nonaqueous CE method has been employed. The main phenolic alcohols in virgin olive oil (tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol) and some among the most abundant secoiridoid aglycone derivatives (dialdehydic form of decarboxymethyl elenoic acid linked to hydroxytyrosol, an isomer of oleuropein aglycone and the dialdehydic form of decarboxymethyl elenoic acid linked to tyrosol) were determined by a direct injection into the capillary of the olive oil dissolved in 1‐propanol 1:1 v/v. For the determination of compounds present at lower concentrations, a very simple liquid–liquid extraction method with ethanol has been proposed. The extraction was performed using a relationship 5:1 w/v olive oil/ethanol to achieve the necessary preconcentration of the analytes and the ethanolic extracts were directly injected into the capillary to obtain a very important time reduction. Good recoveries were obtained with both the procedures, using an internal standard. Finally, these procedures were applied to the analysis of these compounds in extra virgin olive oil samples from different varieties of olive.     

Molecular interactions of sodium laureth sulfate with N-alkyl-1,3-propanediamine in aqueous solutions, based on potentiometric and photometric data

The role of Coulomb and hydrophobic interactions in association and aggregation in binary solutions of anionic surfactant sodium laureth sulfate and cationic surfactant N-alkyl-1,3-propanediamine is established from the concentration dependences of the pH of the solutions. It is shown that the development of the processes is initiated by the Coulomb interaction of oppositely charged sodium laureth sulfate and N-alkyl-1,3-propanediamine molecules and enhanced by the hydrophobic interaction between the hydrocarbon tails of neutral associates of the surfactant molecules.