Abstract
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to oils consumed by humans. The human body uses oils in the diet for three purposes: energy source, structural component and powerful biological regulators. Elemental profiling of macro-, essential elements constitutes an important tool for quality control in terms of nutritional values of these products. Regarding this, Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) determinations were performed to assess the quantitative complement of essential mineral and toxic metals content of different edible oil types, from Romania market, summing 33 samples, after microwave digestion. Additionally, the carbon stable isotope ratios (13C) were determined by Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) in order to differentiate the specific fingerprint of investigated oils.
Highlights
Vegetable oils are widely used in food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and chemical industries
The heavy metals traces affect the oxidation process of oils. The elements such as Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn and Ni increase the rate of oil oxidation while other elements such as Cd, As and Pb are very important due to their toxicity and metabolic role, these representing a subject of food legislation
Elemental measurements Generally, the sample preparation is a critical step for the determination of elements in food, in edible oils, respectively
Summary
Vegetable oils are widely used in food (edible oils), cosmetic, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Regarding the world-wide food production, the edible oils derived from various plants and seeds, have an important role in human nutrition due to cholesterol reducing property [1, 2]. The quality of the edible oils, regarding their freshness and toxicity, can be evaluated through the determination of several trace metals, this being one of the most important criteria for the quality assessment of the oils from the health point of view [3,4,5]. The elements such as Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn and Ni increase the rate of oil oxidation while other elements such as Cd, As and Pb are very important due to their toxicity and metabolic role, these representing a subject of food legislation. Taking into account the quality criteria, there were established the maximum permissible levels for As, Cu, Fe and Pb in olive oils [8], or for Cu and Fe in other edible oils [9]
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