Olive oil is among the most popular supplements of the Mediterranean diet due to its high nutritional value. However, at the same time, because of economical purposes, it is also one of the products most subjected to adulteration. As a result, authenticity is an important issue of concern among authorities. Many analytical techniques, able to detect adulteration of olive oil, to identify its geographical and botanical origin and consequently guarantee its quality and authenticity, have been developed. This review paper discusses the use of infrared and Raman spectroscopy as candidate tools to examine the authenticity of olive oils. It also considers the volatile fraction as a marker to distinguish between different varieties and adulterated olive oils, using SPME combined with gas chromatography technique.
Keywords: IR; adulteration; authentication; gas chromatography; olive oil; raman; volatiles.