The problem of oil fraud remains a global concern that affects the quality of food products and, thus influences the health rates of people across the globe. Therefore, tools for detecting oil fraud have to be introduced into the industry. At present, two approaches are deemed as the most popular ones; these are spectroscopy and chromatography (Jiang et al. 2016; Ali et al. 2018). Because of the efficacy with which spectroscopy allows determining the status of oil and the analysis of its compounds, the specified tool should be recognized as superior in detecting the cases of oil fraud.
The use of spectroscopy should be considered as an indispensable strategy for preventing oil fraud since the selected method helps to perform a detailed analysis of chemical compounds in the oil. For instance, the vibration spectroscopy approach allows analyzing the interaction between light and matter to locate the presence of extra elements in oil (Holland et al. 2019; Rohman 2016).
Specifically, the ability of the bonds between the atoms to stretch can be assessed to prove the quality of oil (Basri et al. 2017; Da Costa et al. 2016). The vibrations between the molecules provide the quantitative data the measurement of which defines the outcomes of the analysis, making the assessment quite accurate.
Since the application of spectroscopy serves to assess changes in the mass of oil, its constituents, and the overall status of the substance, the described tool has to be regarded as a more effective one than chromatography. By applying the spectroscopy tool, one will be able to determine individual molecular spectra that will allow defining the presence of alien elements and, thus evaluating the quality of oil (Trapani et al. 2016). The application of spectroscopy simplifies the process of detecting oil fraud and increases the chances of maintaining consumers’ health rates high.
Reference List
Ali, H, Saleem, M, Anser, M, Khan, S, Ullah, R & Bilal, M 2018, ‘Validation of fluorescence spectroscopy to detect adulteration of edible oil in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) by applying chemometrics’, Applied Spectroscopy, vol. 72, no. 9, pp. 1371-1379.
Basri, K, Hussain, M, Bakar, J, Sharif, Z, Khir, M & Zoolfakar, A 2017, ‘Classification and quantification of palm oil adulteration via portable NIR spectroscopy’, Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, vol. 173, no. 1, pp. 335-342.
Da Costa, G, Fernandes, D, Gomes, A, de Almeida, V & Veras, G 2016, ‘Using near infrared spectroscopy to classify soybean oil according to expiration date’, Food Chemistry, vol. 196, no. 1, pp. 539-543.
Holland, T, Abdul-Munaim, A, Watson, D & Sivakumar, P 2019, ‘Influence of sample mixing techniques on engine oil contamination analysis by infrared spectroscopy’, Lubricants, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 4.
Jiang, X, Li, S, Xiang, G, Li, Q, Fan, L, He, L & Gu, K 2016, ‘Determination of the acid values of edible oils via FTIR spectroscopy based on the OH stretching band’, Food Chemistry, vol. 212, no. 1, pp. 585-589.
Rohman, A 2016, ‘Infrared spectroscopy for quantitative analysis and oil parameters of olive oil and virgin coconut oil: a review’, International Journal of Food Properties, vol. 20, no. 7, pp. 1447-1456.
Trapani, S, Migliorini, M, Cecchi, L, Giovenzana, V, Beghi, R, Canuti, V, Fia, G & Zanoni, B 2016, ‘Feasibility of filter-based NIR spectroscopy for the routine measurement of olive oil fruit ripening indices’, European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology, vol. 119, no. 6, pp. 1-4.