Abstract
Reliable routine analysis of sterols in olive oils is still a difficult and lengthy procedure. Faster and more reliable methods must be selected only if they provide results that are not significantly different from those obtained using official methods. One of the weak points of the current analysis of sterols in olive oils is the sample treatment. Novel treatment techniques prior to mass spectrometry (MS) analysis could be particularly valuable tools in the isolation and purification of sterols. Although promising progress has been achieved, more work is mandatory in order to simplify this step. In this sense, new sample extraction procedures, such as SPME, which could be a valuable technique, have been used for the determination of sterols in biological matrices although not for use in edible oils yet. Furthermore, SFE is a good technique for the extraction of compounds such as sterols, but so far few works have been published, so more work should be developed on this topic. The use of mass spectrometric detectors has improved the reliability of the detection of sterols. However, sterols are difficult to ionize with conventional sources such as electrospray ionization (ESI) or atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), so atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) can be a very powerful alternative, since the ionization efficiency is higher, providing better sensitivity.
Published Version
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