Analytical approaches for measuring pesticides, mycotoxins and heavy metals in vegetable oils: A review

Abstract

Nowadays, consumers are concerned about the toxicological implications and in a great demand for more information about the presence of organic residues and contaminants in vegetable oils. Pesticide residues, mycotoxins, and heavy metals can be readily accumulated in vegetable oil during the cultivation, processing and storage. Those chemical contaminants or its metabolites are carcinogenic, teratogenic, and immunotoxic, which result in serious damages to human health. With public health and economic losses considered, many analytical methods have been reported for the determination of chemical contaminants in vegetable oils. The aim of this review is to provide an update on the historical and current methods for the determination of contaminants in oil samples, discuss and evaluate the features, advantages and limitations, and finally outline the prospects for the multi‐class chemical contaminants determination in vegetable oils.Practical applications: Different strategies and advantages of analytical methods for determination of chemical contaminants in vegetable oils are discussed and evaluated. The features and the prospects are useful for the development of the multi‐class methodology in lipid matrix.Vegetable oils are widely used for cooking and processing in the food industry, meeting dietary demands. Major chemical contaminants, such as pesticide residues, mycotoxins, and heavy metals, are commonly found in vegetable oils. In this review, we provide an update on the historical and current methods for the determination of contaminants in oil samples, discuss and evaluate different analytical methods and techniques, and finally outline the prospects for the determination of major chemical contaminants in vegetable oils.