Labelling of olive oil has been under suspicion for years. In many cases, an oil is sold as Italian or Spanish, but it is often made up of a blend of oils from different origins. Determining the real origin of extra virgin olive oil and ensuring that the contents of the bottle are compliant with the labelling is one of the significant issues in the sector.

To solve this, Chemometric Brain is collaborating in a pioneering study with Imprint Analytics GmbH for the authentication of extra virgin olive oil using NIR technology.

Imprint Analytics GmbH is an Austrian organization specialized in the analytical verification of origin and authenticity of products and raw materials and has a deep knowledge in the field of isotope ratio mass spectrometry.

Chemometric Brain is a unique quality control system based on Near-Infrared technology (NIR) to determine the traceability, suitability, and homogeneity of ingredients and food products, especially in blends. It can be applied to many types of samples including powders, solids, gels, and liquids, and provides a consistent identification and comparison against other samples in just a few seconds, without need to use an external laboratory, which results in significant cost and time reduction.

The main purpose of this joint research project is to develop appropriate chemometric models using NIR spectra of extra virgin olive oil for authentication in a preliminary study that will be evaluated as a case study for further development.

Imprint Analytics owns the samples and dataset and Chemometric Brain has developed the model to carry out the geographical identification. So far, 67 samples from Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Turkey have been analyzed. Chemometric Brain’s technique succeeded to identify all geographical origins except for Italy and Greece, that couldn’t be fully discriminated.

This is the first step of a promising study that will be further developed and complemented with more samples from more sources. Chemometric Brain and Imprint Analytics will continue working on this project in the coming months.

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