TRENDS IN EDIBLE VEGETABLE OILS ANALYSIS. PART B. APPLICATION OF DIFFERENT ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES

The Use of Raman Spectroscopy to Monitor Changes in the Intensity of Ratio of Integral Unsaturated Bands in Bio-Greases

Bio-greases were developed on the basis of vegetable oil obtained from Crambe Abyssinic seeds. An important aspect of this research is to monitor changes in their quality taking place under the influence of external factors. Raman spectroscopy was used to identify changes taking place in the bio-lubricant under the influence of mechanical and thermal forces. The performed tests reflected the operating temperature and friction load that may occur during actual operating conditions for the lubricated friction systems. The Raman spectra provided information on qualitative changes in the structure of the tested bio-lubricants at the molecular level. The integral intensity of the bands used to assess the degree of lipid unsaturation was adopted as the evaluation criterion. The influence of the oxidation process under the PetroOxy and wear test conditions on changes in the structure of the bio-lubricants was assessed. Variation in the integral intensity of the bands (I1655/I1440) proves that the structure of vegetable lubricants changes under the influence of the tests performed. Thermal and mechanical forces influence, the bands originating in unsaturated and result in a decrease in the oxidation resistance of vegetable lubricants.

Analytical Methods for the Characterization of Vegetable Oils

The determination of the authenticity of extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs) has become more interesting in recent years. Italy is the first country in Europe in terms of number of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) oils, which connects consumers to a feeling of tradition and thus to higher quality standards. This work focused on the consideration of the inorganic content as a possible marker of EVOOs. Ten vegetable oils (VOs), eight Italian EVOOs and seven not Italian EVOOs were analyzed. After pretreatment by acid mineralization, Al, Ba, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Sb, Se and Zn were determined by ICP-OES. The electrochemical properties of a selected group of EVOOs and other vegetal oils of different botanical origin were investigated by voltammetry. Carbon paste electrodes (CPEs) were prepared. The features observed in the voltammograms reflect the reactions of electroactive compounds, which are present in the oils. A chemometric treatment of the results was performed to assess the possibility to distinguish (i) the region of provenience considering the inorganic profile; and (ii) the plant species from which each oil was obtained on the basis of the current profile registered during voltammetric analysis. Inorganic composition seems to be a useful marker for the assessment of the geographical origin of an EVOO. The EVOO-CPEs voltammetry seems to have a good ability to distinguish the plant species of origin. This method could be useful to monitor the conservation status of the oils, as the redox profile is linked to the oxidative degradation state.

The New Test Procedure for Group-Type Composition of Base Oils of Lubricating Oils, Especially Emitted into the Environment

Mineral base oil, a product of multistep fine refining of the relevant fractions from vacuum distillation of crude oil, is a main component of so-called mineral lubricating oils containing aliphatic and alicyclic substituted aromatic hydrocarbons, i.e., derivatives of benzene and biphenyl. Mineral lubricating oil is composed mostly of mineral base oil and a low amount of enriching additives, most often products of advanced organic chemical technology. The application of mineral lubricating oils in open cutting systems has a very negative impact on environment and on the operator’s health. This work presents a simple, cheap and fast methodology allows identification of the group-type composition of base oil in lubricating oil and to estimate the content or total absence of base oil of mineral and vegetable origin in lubricating oil. The first step of the test is an in-situ screening for fluorescence of petroleum fraction under the 365 nm light. The next is the performance of infrared spectra with Fourier transformation (FT-MIR) to identify and estimate the content of vegetable oil and its derivatives and the performance of UV-Vis spectra to identify and determine the content of aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as dyes present in the lubricating oil. The last stage is normal phase thin layer chromatography (NP-TLC) using different visualization methods to evaluate the group-type composition of lubricating oil. Effectivity of the developed procedure has been confirmed during control of group-type composition evaluation of lubricating oils in cutting systems. The procedure can be also applied with respect to different oil matrices.

Spectroscopic Methods in the Evaluation of Modified Vegetable Base Oils from Crambe abyssinica

Raw vegetable oil from Crambe abyssinica was subjected to oxidative treatment to enhance its viscosity. The oxidation processes were carried out in the presence of N-hydroxyphthalimide with or without supercritical CO₂ as a solvent. Four spectroscopic techniques (Raman, UV-VIS, FT-IR, NMR) were applied to assess the chemical changes taking place during the oxidation. Raman and NMR spectroscopy proved best in the assessment of the chemical transformations leading to increased viscosity of the modified vegetable oil.

Prediction of Lard in Palm Olein Oil Using Simple Linear Regression (SLR), Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), and Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) Based on Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR)

Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) offers the advantages of rapid analysis with minimal sample preparation. FTIR in combination with multivariate approach, particularly partial least squares regression (PLSR), has been widely used for adulterant analysis. Limited study has been done to compare PLSR with other regression strategies. In this paper, we apply simple linear regression (SLR), multiple linear regression (MLR), and PLSR for prediction of lard in palm olein oil. Pure palm olein oil was adulterated with lard at different concentrations and subjected to analysis with FTIR. The marker bands distinguishing lard and palm olein oil were determined using Fisher’s weights. The marker regions were then subjected to regression analysis with the models verified based on 100 training/test sets. The prediction performance was measured based on the percentage root mean square error (%RMSE). The absorption bands at 3006 cm−1, 2852 cm−1, 1117 cm−1, 1236 cm−1, and 1159 cm−1 were identified as the marker bands. The bands at 3006 and 1117 cm−1 were found with satisfactory predictive ability, with PLSR demonstrating better prediction yielding %RMSE of 16.03 and 13.26%, respectively.

Modified carbon paste electrode as a tool for the evaluation of oxidative stability of rapeseed oil

Carbon paste electrode was used for evaluation of oxidative stability of rapeseed oil samples using cyclic voltammetry in 0.1 mol.L-1 HCl as a supporting electrolyte. Rapeseed oil samples were exposed to daylight and oxygen in open glass baker at the laboratory condition in order to obtain oils with accelerated primary and secondary products of oxidation. The oxidation status was determinated by peroxide value and p-anisidine value. Total oxidative stability was expressed as TOTOX index. The edible oils were used for preparation (modification) of the carbon paste composite material followed by the cyclic voltammetric measurement. Peroxide values significantly increased whereas p-anisinde value rather fluctuated during 40 days of storage in all the samples. Cyclic voltammograms showed anodic current peaks at 575 - 600 mV and cathodic current peaks at 400 - 425 mV. The oxidation and reduction waves diminished at pH ≥3.0 suggesting not only phenolic compounds contributed to the electrochemical characteristic of oil samples. The peroxide value or p-anisidine value did not correlate with oxidation or reduction peak currents at the potential 575 - 600 mV and 400 - 425 mV, respectively. Both cathodic and anodic currents increased with increasing TOTOX index exhibiting positive correlation with high Spearman correlation coefficient (r = 0.894 and r = 0.914 for anodic and cathodic current, respectively). Linear relationship was found for each sample individually. A caution has to be done when interpreting results since the correlation seems to be of oil sample specific. Nevertheless, the modified carbon paste electrode with rapeseed oil represents a suitable and alternative tool for determination of the oxidative state of edible oils without use of organic solvents.