Chemometric Evaluation of Official and Advanced Methods for Detecting Olive Oil Authenticity in Canned Tuna.

This study evaluated the authenticity of olive oil in canned tuna products from the Slovenian market using both official methods, including fatty acid (FA) profiling, determination of the equivalent carbon number difference (ΔECN42), and sterol analysis, and an advanced method: stable carbon isotope analysis (δC) of FAs obtained through compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA). Results from both methods confirmed that all 10 samples were authentic, as per the limits set by EU Regulation 2022/2104 and supported by the scientific literature. Method performance was further evaluated by adulterating the olive oil from the canned tuna with 5-20% vegetable oil (VO) or hazelnut oil (HO). While FA analysis struggled to differentiate adulterants with similar FA profiles, CSIA of FAs significantly improved detection. However, distinguishing between VO and HO blended samples remained challenging. PLS-DA analysis further supported the potential of using δC values of FA for food authentication. Storage of adulterated samples also influenced FA composition, leading to significant changes in MUFA/PUFA ratios and δC values, which became less negative, likely due to oxidative degradation. In summary, the combination of official and advanced methods, supported by chemometric analysis, offers a robust approach to ensuring the authenticity of olive oil in canned tuna.