Classification of edible oils and modeling of their physico-chemical properties by chemometric methods using mid-IR spectroscopy

This research work describes two studies for the classification and characterization of edible oils and its quality parameters through Fourier transform mid infrared spectroscopy (FT-mid-IR) together with chemometric methods. The discrimination of canola, sunflower, corn and soybean oils was investigated using SVM-DA, SIMCA and PLS-DA. Using FT-mid-IR, DPLS was able to classify 100% of the samples from the validation set, but SIMCA and SVM-DA were not.The quality parameters: refraction index and relative density of edible oils were obtained from reference methods. Prediction models for FT-mid-IR spectra were calculated for these quality parameters using partial least squares (PLS) and support vector machines (SVM). Several preprocessing alternatives (first derivative, multiplicative scatter correction, mean centering, and standard normal variate) were investigated. The best result for the refraction index was achieved with SVM as well as for the relative density except when the preprocessing combination of mean centering and first derivative was used. For both of quality parameters, the best results obtained for the figures of merit expressed by the root mean square error of cross validation (RMSECV) and prediction (RMSEP) were equal to 0.0001.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► FT-mid-IR spectroscopy coupled to chemometrics has been used to discriminate edible oil samples. ► Using FT-mid-IR spectra, DPLS was able to classify 100% of the samples from the validation set. ► The best result for prediction of the refraction index and relative density from edible oil samples using FT-mid-IR spectra was achieved with SVM.