U.S – Bruker has expanded its food analysis solutions portfolio with the launch of a new NMR Olive Oil-Profiling 1.0 solution for quality control and authenticity verification of olive oil, which is one of the most adulterated food products worldwide.
The NMR Olive Oil-Profiling 1.0 solution will be offered on two nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) platforms, the established NMR FoodScreener 400 MHz platform, and also on the cryogen-free Fourier 80 benchtop system.
The two solutions address different requirements of the stakeholders in the olive oil industry. The benchtop NMR solution targets olive oil bottlers, testing laboratories, and satellite laboratories.
On the other hand, the NMR FoodScreener targets governmental and private testing laboratories for the analysis of a broad range of complex food matrices. This platform allows the content stacking of various NMR food-profiling solutions on one system.
Thomas Spengler, Senior Market Manager for Food Analysis at Bruker BioSpin, noted that as a high-value food product, olive oil is particularly vulnerable to economically motivated adulteration (EMA), which can erode consumer trust in a brand.
“We are pleased to launch Olive Oil-Profiling 1.0, our first food profiling solution based on a benchtop NMR system. This cost-effective solution allows olive oil bottlers to perform quality and authenticity control in only 12 minutes.
“The solution enhances supply chain integrity, especially for bottlers who are not vertically integrated, and it builds trust between sellers and buyers of olive oil,” he said.
The easy-to-use and fully automated Olive-Oil Profiling solution by NMR offers the quantification of parameters regulated by the International Olive Oil Council (IOC), and the verification of geographical origin by comparing the fingerprint of the sample with a reference database.
The non-targeted analysis can detect anomalies, which also can point to quality issues or adulteration.
“We are pleased to launch Olive Oil-Profiling 1.0, our first food profiling solution based on a benchtop NMR system. This cost-effective solution allows olive oil bottlers to perform quality and authenticity control in only 12 minutes.”
A review published in Food Control, June 2021 explains that the industry needs to “Improve robust methods and supportive screening tools to stay one step ahead of fraudsters.”
It recommends that the IOC, which accounts for 98% of the world’s olive production, adopt a joint strategy that combines sensory panel testing with instrumental data.
Lea Heintz, Product Manager at Bruker BioSpin, commented that when adulterated products flood the market, the olive oil supply chain is being undermined.
“Consumers need to trust the origin and integrity of olive oil, and this requires robust analytical evidence that complements the expertise of sensory panels.
“By validating the unique signatures that identify the origin and purity of olive oil, our NMR solutions offer fast and accurate verification that is easy to implement and use. Our intuitive interface and reporting require no user NMR knowledge,” she said.
This latest launch complements existing modules for the FoodScreener platform such as Honey-Profiling, Wine-Profiling and Juice Profiling.
Last year, Bruker launched the latest version of its NMR Honey-Profiling module for the advanced detection of the dynamic modes of honey adulteration.
The new module expanded the growing database to 28,000 reference honey samples, covering over 50 countries, 100 monofloral varieties and many polyfloral varieties.
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