New Olive Oil Analysis Solution also for Fourier 80™ Cryogen-Free Benchtop FT-NMR

Bruker launches a new NMR Olive Oil-Profiling 1.0™ solution for authenticity verification and quality control of olive oil, which is one of the most adulterated food products worldwide. This further expands Bruker’s food analysis solutions portfolio and will be offered on two nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) platforms, the established NMR FoodScreener™ 400 MHz platform, and also on the cryogen-free Fourier 80 benchtop system.

The two solutions address different requirements of the stakeholders in the olive oil industry. The benchtop NMR solution targets olive oil bottlers, testing laboratories, and satellite laboratories. The NMR FoodScreener targets governmental and private testing laboratories for the analysis of a broad range of complex food matrices. This platform allows the content stacking of various NMR food-profiling solutions on one system.

The easy to use and fully automated Olive-Oil Profiling solution by NMR offers the quantification of parameters regulated by the International Olive Oil Council (IOC), and the verification of geographical origin by comparing the fingerprint of the sample with a reference database. The non-targeted analysis can detect anomalies, which also can point to quality issues or adulteration.

A review published in Food Control, June 20211 explains that the industry needs to “Improve robust methods and supportive screening tools to stay one step ahead of fraudsters.” These are mainly related to the higher value extra virgin olive oil, being the top quality and the related different price/value according to the geographical origin. The study recommends that the International Olive Council (IOC)2, which accounts for 98% of the world’s olive production, adopt a joint strategy that combines sensory panel testing with instrumental data.

Lea Heintz, Product Manager at Bruker BioSpin, commented: “When adulterated products flood the market, the olive oil supply chain is being undermined. Consumers need to trust the origin and integrity of olive oil, and this requires robust analytical evidence that complements the expertise of sensory panels. By validating the unique signatures that identify the origin and purity of olive oil, our NMR solutions offer fast and accurate verification that is easy to implement and use. Our intuitive interface and reporting requires no user NMR knowledge.”

Thomas Spengler, Senior Market Manager for Food Analysis at Bruker BioSpin, added: “As a high-value food product, olive oil is particularly vulnerable to economically motivated adulteration, which can erode consumer trust in a brand. We are pleased to launch Olive Oil-Profiling 1.0, our first food profiling solution based on a benchtop NMR system. This cost-effective solution allows olive oil bottlers to perform quality and authenticity control in only 12 minutes. The solution enhances supply chain integrity, especially for bottlers who are not vertically integrated, and it builds trust between sellers and buyers of olive oil.” 

This latest launch complements existing modules for the FoodScreener platform such as Honey-Profiling, Wine-Profiling and Juice Profiling.

For more information about the Bruker Olive-Oil Profiling by NMR, please visit our website.

References

E. Casadei, et al: Emerging trends in olive oil fraud and possible countermeasures, Food Control, Elsevier, June 2021.
International Olive Council: 'The IOC encourages the expansion of international trade in olive oil and table olives, drawing up and updating product trade standards and improving quality'. IOC producer members account for 98% of world olive production. 

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