An improved rapid stigmastadiene test to detect addition of refined oil to extra virgin olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil is a premium food product that is likely to be the target of adulteration with refined olive oils or seed oils. Refining produces steroidal alkenes (sterenes) including stigmastadiene. This paper describes a rapid GC-MS method for the determination of stigmastadiene which is faster and more sensitive than the current official procedure based on CC-RD. The method does not require a saponification procedure for cold pressed oils, uses a stigmastadiene standard for quantification, has a low limit of quantification (0.015 mg kg(-1)) and gives excellent confirmation of peak identity at the current regulatory limit of 0.5 mg kg(-1). Crown Copyright (c) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.