Main fatty acid classes in vegetable oils by SB-ATR-Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.

The prospect of using single bounce attenuated total reflectance (SB-ATR)-Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy as a rapid quantitative tool to determine the main fatty acid groups present in different edible oils was investigated. Partial least squares (PLS) calibrations were developed using SB-ATR-FTIR spectra which were associated with fatty acid groups (saturated, trans, mono- and polyunsaturated) using quantitative data obtained by gas chromatography (GC). Good calibrations were obtained for all main four fat groups (saturated, mono, trans and polyunsaturated) with excellent precision.