Characterization of semisolid fats and edible oils by Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy

The potential of Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy (FTIR-PAS) for the analysis of semisolid fat and edible oil was demonstrated with butter, soybean oil, and lard as representative materials. Results of Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy analysis was compared with FTIR-PAS results. The PAS technique is simple and requires no sample preparation unlike ATR. Optimal PAS instrumental parameters for obtaining quality spectra are a scanning speed of 5 kHz, number of scans of 256 scans/sample, and a resolution of 4 cm−1. The PAS spectra of soybean oil and lard are similar because they have similar functional groups. Results for soybean oil compare well with those available in the literature. The ATR spectra of butter were better than those from its PAS counterpart. Functional groups corresponding to vibration mode and intensity are provided for soybean oil and lard.