FTIR Spectroscopy and PLS-DA Classification and Prediction of Four Commercial Grade Virgin Olive Oils from Morocco

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) coupled to chemometrics was shown to be a useful method to classify and predict the quality of four commercial grade virgin olive oils (VOO). FTIR and physicochemical data were collected using a set of 70 samples representing extra virgin (EV), virgin (V), ordinary virgin (OV), and lampante (L) commercial grade olive oils collected in Beni Mellal region (central Morocco). Two partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models using physicochemical data and FTIR data were established and compared. The PLS-DA model using only physicochemical data was not accurate enough to distinguish satisfactorily among OV, V, and EV olive oil grades. On the contrary, the PLS-DA model on FTIR data was better in the calibration, able to describe 98 % of the spectral information and predicting 93 % of the VOO grades. In the external validation, this PLS-DA model accurately classified VOO commercial grades with prediction accuracy of 100 %. The proposed procedure is fast, nondestructive, simple, and easy to operate, and it is recommended for the quick monitoring of olive oil's quality.