Intelligent film-based differentiation of forgeries from diacylglycerol-enriched oils

Cheaper forgeries emerge inevitably for commercial interests when authentic products are developed with great market potential. For example, diacylglycerol-enriched oils are often forged by that containing mainly triacylglycerol, the former health beneficial whereas the latter not. To detect such forgeries, fast, efficient and specific methods are necessary. Therefore, we established a hydrolysis system with Penicillium camemberti lipase to enable diacylglycerol-enriched oils to exhibit a distinct pH response from that of forged oils. This different pH could be visible by pH-sensitive films. Further, we optimized the hydrolysis system for higher efficiency, followed by testing the potential of this film-based method in semi-quantifying diacylglycerol level (about 20, 40, 60, and 80%). This method was then validated by comparing with the results from traditional high performance liquid chromatography-based method. Our findings provide an effective method for detecting forged oils from diacylglycerol-enriched oils in non-laboratory settings, contributing to improving authenticity and quality control.