Nuclear magnetic resonance study of flavoured olive oils

High field 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to analyse and characterize different flavoured olive oils, namely orange, basil, bergamot, cardamom, lemon, mandarin, chilli, rosemary, white and black truffle, ginger, garlic and mushroom flavoured olive oils. Several compounds were identified by means of 2D NMR experiments and spiking experiments. In particular, limonene was found in lemon, bergamot, orange, mandarin, cardamom, ginger and chilli flavoured olive oils, p-cymene was found in lemon and bergamot flavoured olive oils, linalool was found in bergamot, basil and cardamom flavoured olive oils, α-curcumene was found in ginger flavoured olive oil and geranial and neral were found in lemon flavoured olive oil. Some implications regarding the product standardization and quality are discussed monitoring the acidity indirectly, by the measure of diglycerides and monoglycerides, and the amount of some minor compounds sensitive to the product shelf-life. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.