Interpretation of fourier transform Raman spectra of the unsaponifiable matter in a selection of edible oils

The unsaponifiable matter of edible oils is a source of information for the ir characterization and authentication. FT-Raman spectroscopy has been appl ied with success to the determination of the spectra of the unsaponifiable matter of varietal olive oils as well as other refined and crude edible oil s. The spectra of the major unsaponifiable series of compounds (squalene, s terolic, and terpenic alcoholic fractions), together with beta -carotene an d lutein, have been used to explain the most prominent bands found in the s pectra of the unsaponifiable matter of 15 edible oil samples. Thp. order of the scattering intensities of the varietal, olive oils-agrees with the res ults obtained by chromatography. An unsupervised multivariate statistical a nalysis of selected bands points out differences between olive oils and the other seed oils and also among varietal virgin olive oils.