Desarrollo de metodologías para la determinación de contaminantes en aceites de oliva. Cuantificación del contenido graso y humedad en aceitunas y orujo

Abstract

In this doctoral work, a simplified and semi-automated analytical methodology for the determination of major constituents, pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in olive oils and olive-derived products was developed. On one side, the advantages of two methods based on the near infrared spectroscopy and the nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were proposed and compared with the existing reference procedures for moisture and fats quantification in olives and olive pomace. On the other hand, a multiresidue method for the simultaneous determination of pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in olive oils and pomace oils was developed and optimized. These methods are based on a sample pre-treatment step consisting of a liquid–liquid partition for the extraction of analytes and then a purification step of the extracts by gel permeation chromatography, after that, the analytes were separated and determined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The methodologies developed provide high sensitivity, selectivity and accuracy.