Field-Deployable Determinations of Peroxide Index and Total Phenolic Content in Olive Oil Using a Promising Portable...

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Virgin olive oil quality is assessed by oxidative stability, measured via peroxide index (PI) and total phenolic content (TPC).
• Traditional laboratory methods for PI and TPC determination are costly, time-consuming, and require specialized equipment and personnel.
• Small-scale olive oil producers often lack the resources for in-house laboratory analysis, hindering quality control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel, portable sensor system for rapid, in-field determination of PI and TPC in virgin olive oil.
• To provide an accessible and cost-effective quality control solution for small production environments.
• To enable real-time monitoring of olive oil oxidative stability.

Main Methods:

• Development of a portable sensor system powered by USB or batteries, featuring Bluetooth for wireless data transmission.
• Estimation of PI and TPC based on the optical attenuation of an emulsion formed between a reagent and the olive oil sample.
• Calibration and validation of the sensor system using a set of 12 virgin olive oil samples against reference analytical techniques.

Main Results:

• The portable sensor system demonstrated good accuracy in estimating both PI and TPC.
• Maximum deviations from reference methods were 4.7 meq O2/kg for PI and 45.3 ppm for TPC (calibration set).
• Maximum deviations for the validation set were 14.8 meq O2/kg for PI and 55 ppm for TPC.

Conclusions:

• The developed portable sensor system offers a viable and accurate solution for on-site quality assessment of virgin olive oil.
• The system's ease of use, portability, and wireless data transmission make it ideal for small producers.
• This technology can significantly improve quality control accessibility and efficiency in the olive oil industry.