Quantification of squalene in olive oil using13c nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Abstract

In the course of our ongoing work on the chemical characterization of Corsican olive oil, we have developed and validated a method for direct quantification of squalene using13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy without saponification, extraction, or fractionation of the investigated samples. Good accuracy, linearity, and precision of the measurements have been observed. The experimental procedure was applied to the quantification of squalene in 24 olive oil samples from Corsica. Squalene accounted for 0.35–0.83% of the whole composition.