An improved rapid stigmastadiene test to detect addition of refined oil to extra virgin olive oil

•An improved stigmastadiene test for virgin oilive oil is presented.•The method is more rapid and easier to apply than the current regulatory procedures.•It is sensitivite and can confirmation of peak identity at the regulatory limit.•The method can detect other sterenes in oils.

Extra virgin olive oil is a premium food product that is likely to be the target of adulteration with refined olive oils or seed oils. Refining produces steroidal alkenes (sterenes) including stigmastadiene. This paper describes a rapid GC-MS method for the determination of stigmastadiene which is faster and more sensitive than the current official procedure based on GC-FID. The method does not require a saponification procedure for cold pressed oils, uses a stigmastadiene standard for quantification, has a low limit of quantification (0.015 mg kg− 1) and gives excellent confirmation of peak identity at the current regulatory limit of 0.5 mg kg− 1.