Quality assessment and geographical origin classification of extra-virgin olive oils imported into China

Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) is an important imported commercial product in China. This study comprehensively evaluated the quality of EVOOs imported from different countries into China based on chemical parameters and sensory attributes. Multivariate statistics were used to authenticate their geographical origins. 71.8% of the oils failed to meet the current official standards at inland and abroad established for commercial EVOO category. Pyropheophytin, defect attributes, peroxide value, and K270 were above the limits in 32%, 24%, 23%, and 5% of the failed samples respectively, while free acidity, K232 and delta K were above the limits in 4%. Fatty acids and delta ECN42 were beyond the limits in 2% of the failed samples. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) based on fatty acids and triacyglycerols succeeded in identifying the origin of olive oils. 3.5% of the total might be mislabelled the geographical origin. The main quality problems of the analyzed oils include oxidation, counterfeiting with refined oils and origin fraud. Considering the results and the fact that most EVOOs in China are imported from other countries, chemometrics combined with critical quality attributes should be an ideal way of EVOO quality control, protecting consumers from frauds.