Use of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy coupled with chemometrics for the authentication of avocado oil in ternary mixtures with sunflower and soybean oils

ABSTRACTAvocado oil is a high-value and nutraceutical oil whose authentication is very important since the addition of low-cost oils could lower its beneficial properties. Mid-FTIR spectroscopy combined with chemometrics was used to detect and quantify adulteration of avocado oil with sunflower and soybean oils in a ternary mixture. Thirty-seven laboratory-prepared adulterated samples and 20 pure avocado oil samples were evaluated. The adulterated oil amount ranged from 2% to 50% (w/w) in avocado oil. A soft independent modelling class analogy (SIMCA) model was developed to discriminate between pure and adulterated samples. The model showed recognition and rejection rate of 100% and proper classification in external validation. A partial least square (PLS) algorithm was used to estimate the percentage of adulteration. The PLS model showed values of R2 > 0.9961, standard errors of calibration (SEC) in the range of 0.3963–0.7881, standard errors of prediction (SEP estimated) between 0.6483 and 0.9707, and g...