Principal Component Analysis of Fatty Acid Data to Detect Virgin Coconut Oil Adulteration by Palm Olein

Abstract

Authentication of virgin coconut oil (VCO) is important to safeguard customers from adulteration practices. A study was carried out to distinguish VCO from VCO adulterated with palm olein (PO) using principal component analysis (PCA) of fatty acid (FA) compositional data. Six samples of VCO, and six samples of palm olein were obtained from oil producers’ companies in Malaysia. Six samples of adulterated VCO were prepared by mixing with palm olein in 5% increment of adulteration. Fatty acid compositions of all oil samples were determined individually and the data were analyzed statistically. PCA analysis showed that lauric, palmitic and oleic acids were the most influencing parameters to discriminate VCO from adulterated VCO. Out of the thirteen FA variables investigated, ten were found to display high correlation with increasing adulteration. Predictive models showing higher coefficient of determination (R2) and good confidence limits were useful for quantification purposes.

Keywords

• adulteration
• fatty acid data
• chemometrics
• pca
• virgin coconut oil