Measurement of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in aroma-flavored olive oils produced using microwave and traditional maceration methods

Abstract

Flavored olive oils were generally produced with the maceration method, which has disadvantages such as taking a long time and making the tanks unusable for a long time. The new techniques could produce favored oils to shorten time according to maceration. In this work, three diferent olive oil types, including extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), refned olive oil (RO), and refned olive pomace oil (RPO) as oil sources and fve plant materials (Tulsi, Thyme, Marjoram, Rosemary and Oregano) as favoring materials were selected and subjected to a heating process in a microwave oven for a duration of 6, 8, 10, and 15 min at a constant frequency of 2450 MHz and a power of 0.45 kW to produce favored oils and also used maceration technique. The presence of 4 PAH components, such as benzo(a)pyrene (B[a]P), benzo[a]anthracene (B[a]A), benzo(b) fuoranthene (B[b]F), and Chrysen (Chr), classifed as dangerous for health was measured in the oils that were macerated and microwaved. In macerated oils, only B[a]P was detected in favored RPOs. However, B[a]P and Chr were detected in all favored oils, especially in a long-time microwave (10 and 15 min). Besides, B[a]A and B[b]F were found in only favored RPOs with an increase in exposure time (10 and 15 min). The concentration of B[a]P detected in four samples, including the control sample (CRPO) and favored samples, was above the limit value of 2 µg/kg. On the other hand, the total content of the four PAHs: B[a]P, B[a]A, B[b]F and Chr did not exceed the limit value of 10 μg/kg. As a result, PAHs are higher in extended exposure to microwave applications in favored olive oils, compared to the conventional maceration method, resulting in lower-quality products regarding food safety