Levels of 15 + 1 EU Priority Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Different Edible Oils Available in the Syrian Market

A Review on the Occurrence and Analytical Determination of PAHs in Olive Oils

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental and processing contaminants, which may contaminate vegetable oils due to atmospheric fall-out or bad production practices. Due to their carcinogenic and toxic effects, surveillance schemes and mitigation strategies are needed to monitor human exposure to PAHs. In particular, due to the lipophilic nature of these substances, edible oils may present unsafe levels of these compounds. Among these, olive oil, and in particular extra virgin olive oil, is a high-value commodity, also known for its health benefits. Therefore, the occurrence of contaminants in this product is not only of health concern but also causes economic and image damage. In this review, an overview of the occurrence of PAHs in all categories of olive oil is provided, as well as a description of the official methods available and the analytical developments in the last 10 years.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in edible oils and fatty foods: Occurrence, formation, analysis, change and control

Numerous studies have demonstrated that dozens of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are mutagenic, genotoxic and strongly carcinogenic. PAHs are found to be widely present in foods contaminated through multiple paths. Due to their lipophilic nature, these compounds easily accumulate in edible oils and fatty foods where they can range from no detection to over 2000μg/kg. Compared to precursor PAHs, researchers have seldom studied the presence of PAH derivatives, especially in food matrices. This chapter includes the physical and chemical characteristics of PAHs and their types, occurrence, sample pretreatment and instrumental determination methods, and their formation, change and control in edible oils and fatty foods. The occurrence and formation of PAH derivatives in foods are much less investigated compared to those of their precursor PAHs. Although the removal of matrix effects and accuracy remain difficult for current rapid determination methods, a prospective research direction of PAH analysis for large-scale screening is in demand. To date, physical absorption, chemical oxidation and biodegradation have been widely used in PAH removal techniques. Specific types of bacteria, fungi, and algae have also been used to degrade PAHs into harmless compounds. However, most of them can only degrade a range of LPAHs, such as naphthalene, anthracene and phenanthrene. Their ability to degrade HPAHs requires further study. Moreover, it is still a great challenge to maintain food nutrition and flavor during the PAH removal process using these methods.

Study on the effect of activated carbon with bleaching earth on the reduction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in bleached soybean oil

Considering the importance of bleaching earth with activated carbon for reducing the Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as an important chemical contaminant, this study was conducted to confirm the effects of the bleaching process on the reduction or elimination of the BαP index and 4 PAH (BαA, CHR, BβF, BαP) contents in soybean oil. The bleaching process was carried out with different amounts of bleaching earth (1% w/w) and activated carbon (0.1% up to 0.5% w/w). A HPLC/FLD device was employed to determine the PAHs in the oil samples after undergoing extraction and clean-up procedures. The results of linearity indicated that there was a linear response with high linear regression coefficients of determination for all the 4 PAHs analyzed. (R2 > 0.9950). Furthermore, the recovery percentage was calculated from 83.8% to 106.2%; LOD and LOQ were 0.06–0.2 μgkg−1 and 0.2–0.61 μgkg−1, respectively. An analysis of the PAH contents indicated that the bleaching process, including a 0.27% to 0.5% w/w activated carbon application led to the elimination of the PAH content. Since vegetable oils have been shown to be the major sources of PAHs in the diet, the industrial use of activated carbon during the bleaching of vegetable oils is highly recommended.