IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF OLIVE OILS BY HIGH-RESOLUTION C-13 NUCLEAR-MAGNETIC-RESONANCE

Unsaponifiable matter from 19 olive and olive pomace oils were studied by high-resolution C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Thei r spectra showed characteristic peaks that corresponded to molecular s ubstructures rather than the individual constituents present in the un saponifiable matter. The presence of squalene and other hydrocarbons, sterols and triterpenic alcohols, in addition to other groups of minor compounds, were observed. Based on the analysis of these spectre, it was possible to distinguish among different grades of olive oils by us ing step wise discriminant analysis. This direct method of analysis is suggested to be used in artificial neural networks to define oil iden tity and quality.