HPLC determination at polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in olive oils

In this paper, HPLC with spectrofluorimetric detection was applied to the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in olive oils. These compounds may sometimes contaminate vegetable oils because of their specific lipophilic characteristics, which are a significant problem for their extraction and purification from lipid matrices. Some improvements to previously published methods are introduced and satisfactory results for repeatability and recovery were obtained. Data on 51 authentic olive oil samples are reported and it was found that there is usually a limited presence of PAHs in extra virgin olive oils; furthermore, the analysis of some blends of refined and virgin oils shows that the distributions of light and heavy PAHs are different with the content of the former being lower in refined samples. As an example of this fact, two samples of lampante oil were followed throughout the refining step.