A comprehensive classification of edible oils according to their radical scavenging spectral profile evaluated by advanced chemometrics

Abstract A comprehensive study concerning the characterization and classification of 30 cold-pressed edible oils according to their UV–Vis spectra and radical scavenging profiles using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH ) assay is presented. Considering the principal component analysis (PCA) and fuzzy-principal component analysis (FPCA) loadings profiles, the characteristic spectral regions with a significant influence in oil samples classification were identified and associated with characteristic factors in each group. Much more, the oils with high antiradical capacity were revealed. The scores corresponding to the first principal component and the canonical scores corresponding to the first discriminant function derived from radical scavenging spectral profiles allowed a relevant classification of oils in well-defined groups associated with their high, medium and low radical scavenging capacity. The FPCA-LDA method applied on DPPH radical scavenging spectral profiles of edible oils appeared to be the most efficient method with a correct classification rate of 96.7%.