engleski

Spectroscopic analysis of sterols in Croatian olive oils

Classification and authentification of extra virgin olive oils by their level of fatty acid unsaturation applying multivariate statistical methods is one of the common approaches [1]. Another approach in authenticity tests is differentiation of oils on the basis of more characteristic minor compounds like sterols or other non-triglicerides. Sterols, as one of discriminating factors, contribute fuller characterisation of oils, both by variety and the state of maturity of the olives [2]. β – sitosterol is the most abundant sterol in vegetable oils with (75− 93) % of the total sterolic fraction (Fig. 1). Figure 1. β – sitosterol A total of 90 extra-virgine olive oils samples from different olive varieties, representing Dalmatia region of Croatia (Brač, Makarska, Marina) were collected. Vibrational spectra of these samples were submitted to principal component analysis providing a high- quality description with only a few eigenvectors (first principal component was covering more than 90 % of the total variance). Major differences among the set of samples reveal that the sterol content varies according to the maturity of the olives and/or geographical position.

sterol; Croatian olive oils

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