Authentication and Geographical Origin Analysis of Plant - Derived Edible Oil Using the SCIEX X500R QTOF System

Significance of the Topic

A reliable approach to authenticate plant-derived edible oils and trace their geographical origin is critical for food safety, consumer protection, and prevention of economic fraud. Triacylglycerols (TAGs) and free fatty acids (FFAs) represent over 95% of oil constituents and their molecular profiles directly influence nutritional and physicochemical properties. Detailed lipid fingerprinting enables direct evidence for oil authenticity and provenance, supporting regulatory compliance and quality control in global food supply chains.

Study Objectives and Overview

This work establishes a comprehensive workflow using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-QTOF MS) on the SCIEX X500R system to:

• Perform global lipid profiling of seven common edible oils (olive, peanut, corn, sunflower, rapeseed, sesame, soybean).
• Identify characteristic TAG and FFA markers for oil type discrimination.
• Evaluate the method’s capability to detect adulteration and determine geographic origin of olive and soybean oils.

Methodology

Samples were simply diluted in methanol/isopropanol containing ammonium acetate. Lipid separation employed a Phenomenex C18 column with gradient elution of aqueous and organic buffers at 0.35 mL/min and 60 °C. MS acquisition used an information-dependent acquisition (IDA) method with full scan (100–1000 Da) and MS/MS (50–1000 Da), complemented by Dynamic Background Subtraction to prioritize analyte spectra. QC injections interleaved every six samples over 290 injections ensured robustness.

Used Instrumentation

• SCIEX ExionLC™ AC HPLC system with C18 column (2.1×100 mm, 2.6 µm).
• SCIEX X500R QTOF mass spectrometer equipped with electrospray ionization and Dynamic Background Subtraction.
• SCIEX OS-Q software for data extraction and quantitation.
• LipidView™ for targeted lipid list generation.
• MarkerView™ for statistical analysis (PCA, t-test).

Main Results and Discussion

PCA of TAG and FFA profiles achieved clear clustering by oil type, with 39 TAG/DAG markers and 9 FFA markers showing significant differentiation. Adulteration of olive oil with sunflower oil was accurately quantitated by marker peak-area ratios. Geographic origin analysis distinguished olive oils from Italy, Greece, and Spain based on FFA content, and differentiated soybean oils from China, Brazil, and the USA using TAG patterns.

Benefits and Practical Applications

• High-throughput screening for oil authenticity and adulteration detection in quality control laboratories.
• Traceability of oil origin for regulatory agencies and food producers.
• Robust, reproducible performance in complex matrices with mass accuracy within 1 ppm over extended runs.

Future Trends and Potential Applications

Advances in lipidomics and machine learning could further refine marker discovery and automate classification models. Integration with portable MS systems may enable on-site authenticity testing. Expanding to other food matrices will support broader supply-chain traceability.

Conclusion

The SCIEX X500R QTOF platform combined with targeted lipid profiling and multivariate statistics provides a reliable, reproducible, and high-throughput workflow for edible oil authentication and geographic origin determination, supporting food safety and combating adulteration.

References

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