An innovative approach for real-time authentication of cocoa butter using a combination of rapid evaporative ionization mass spectrometry and chemometrics

Abstract

Cocoa butter (CB) is one of the most valuable raw materials in the chocolate industry, and its authenticity is essential to guarantee the safety and quality of chocolate products. For the first time, a real-time and high-throughput method using rapid evaporative ionization mass spectrometry (REIMS) was developed to determine the authenticity of CB. Various types of CB and cocoa butter equivalents (CBEs), as well as CB adulterated by the addition of CBEs, were measured, and different chemometric approaches were implemented for different adulteration scenarios. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was performed to obtain an overview of the dataset, exploring similarities and differences between CB and CBEs. An orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model was developed to differentiate between authentic and adulterated CB. A classification accuracy of 100% was achieved, and CBEs could be detected at a level of 10%. A one-class support vector machine (OCSVM) model capable of detecting unsuspected adulterants was successfully built. This model had 95% specificity and 100% sensitivity. Single-origin CB was successfully differentiated from blended CB. This study demonstrated that REIMS could be used as a rapid and sensitive approach for authentication and adulteration analysis of CB. The methodology could enhance the ability of chocolate manufacturers in ensuring the authenticity of their products, helping to avoid complex and ever-changing fraudulent activities.