Assessment of olive oil adulteration by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography/amperometric detection of tocopherols and tocotrienols

A method involving reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with amperometric detection has been developed for the analysis of tocopherols and tocotrienols in vegetable oils. The sample preparation avoids saponification. Recoveries of α-tocotrienol and γ-tocotrienol in extra virgin olive oil were 97.0 and 102.0%, respectively. No tocotrienols were detected in olive, hazelnut, sunflower, and soybean oils, whether virgin or refined. However, relatively high levels of tocotrienols were found in palm and grapeseed oils. This method could detect small quantities (1–2%) of palm and grapeseed oils in olive oil or in any tocotrienol-free vegetable oil and might, therefore, help assess authenticity of vegetable oils.