Identification of Turkish extra virgin olive oils produced in different regions by using NMR (1H and 13C) and IRMS (13C/12C)

Isotope ratio mass spectroscopy (IRMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy techniques are two of the analytical methods that are used to characterize food products. The aim of this study is to classify extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) samples collected from different regions of Turkey based on ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra along with IRMS δ¹³C carbon isotope ratio data by using chemometrics multivariate data analysis methods. A total of 175 EVOO samples were analyzed in 2014/15 and 2015/16 harvest seasons. Multivariate classification and clustering models were used to identify geographical and botanical origins of the EVOOs. IRMS results showed that there was no significant difference in terms of δ¹³C values between the years in terms of harvest year (p > 0.05), only extraction phase and variety were statistically significant factors (p < 0.05). The interactions of the factors showed that the harvest year × variety interaction is important. The outcomes of this research clearly indicated that considering the partial least squares discriminant analysis result with NMR spectra, the percent success of the model in the South Marmara, North Aegean, and South Aegean region samples were 95%, 95.7%, and 96.4% in the model set, respectively. The results showed that by using classification and clustering models, geographic marking and labeling of these oils can be carried out regardless of differences in year and production systems (2 and 3 phase extraction system) according the NMR analysis.