Extra-Virgin Olive Oils from Nine Italian Regions: An ¹H NMR-Chemometric Characterization

• Main Authors: Cinzia Ingallina, Antonella Cerreto, Luisa Mannina, Simone Circi, Silvia Vista, Donatella Capitani, Mattia Spano, Anatoly P. Sobolev, Federico Marini
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-04-01
• Series: Metabolites
• Subjects: extra virgin olive oil (EVOO); ¹H-NMR; linear discriminant analysis (LDA)
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/9/4/65

Extra-virgin olive oil (383 samples; EVOOs) of three consecutive harvesting years from nine Italian regions were collected and submitted to an ¹H NMR-chemometric protocol to characterize the samples according to their origin (geographical area and variety). A more complete assignment of the olive oil ¹H spectrum in CDCl₃ and DMSO<i>d₆</i> was reported identifying 24-methylencycolartanol. A single classification model provided the discrimination of EVOOs among the three geographical macro-areas (North, Islands, Center-South), whereas a hierarchical approach based on breaking the overall classification problem into a series of smaller linear discriminant analysis (LDA) sub-models was tested to differentiate olive oils according to their geographical regions. Specific compounds responsible for olive oil characterization were identified.