Raman on the palm: handheld Raman spectroscopy for enhanced traceability of palm oil
Abstract Determining the geographic origin of palm oil in West Africa is vital for economic, environmental, and health reasons. It enhances traceability, protects local farmers, supports conservation by monitoring deforestation, and reduces food fraud, ensuring quality and regulatory compliance. Por...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | npj Science of Food |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-025-00462-3 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850136953809272832 |
|---|---|
| author | Joe Stradling Cassio Lima Rudi Grosman Igor Barsukov Yun Xu Ernest Teye Chris Elliott Howbeer Muhamadali Royston Goodacre |
| author_facet | Joe Stradling Cassio Lima Rudi Grosman Igor Barsukov Yun Xu Ernest Teye Chris Elliott Howbeer Muhamadali Royston Goodacre |
| author_sort | Joe Stradling |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Determining the geographic origin of palm oil in West Africa is vital for economic, environmental, and health reasons. It enhances traceability, protects local farmers, supports conservation by monitoring deforestation, and reduces food fraud, ensuring quality and regulatory compliance. Portable Raman spectroscopy offers a rapid method to identify the origin of palm oils from West Africa. Using principal component analysis (PCA), distinct clusters in scores plots were observed which reflected the geographic origin of the palm oils, with loadings from the first principal component (PC-1) highlighting β-carotene as a major source of variation among the samples. To quantify β-carotene content, a partial least squares regression (PLS-R) model was developed in coconut oil as the base oil as it is known to be β-carotene free. Once calibrated, PLS-R was used to rank the palm oil from West Africa based on their β-carotene levels. The resulting models in coconut oil demonstrated strong linearity and predictive performance, with R² and Q² values of 0.9848 and 0.9552, respectively, alongside low root mean square errors of cross-validation (0.1282 mM) and prediction (0.0747 mM); moreover, this model allows the palm oils to be ranked based on β-carotene content which was entirely reflective of the oils position in PC-1 from PCA. These findings underscore the potential of Raman spectroscopy as an effective tool for authenticating the geographic origin of palm oil from West Africa. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0ea9cc7bc90242ae960c8d05fa9f4197 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2396-8370 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Science of Food |
| spelling | doaj-art-0ea9cc7bc90242ae960c8d05fa9f41972025-08-20T02:30:59ZengNature Portfolionpj Science of Food2396-83702025-06-01911910.1038/s41538-025-00462-3Raman on the palm: handheld Raman spectroscopy for enhanced traceability of palm oilJoe Stradling0Cassio Lima1Rudi Grosman2Igor Barsukov3Yun Xu4Ernest Teye5Chris Elliott6Howbeer Muhamadali7Royston Goodacre8Centre for Metabolomics Research, Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of LiverpoolCentre for Metabolomics Research, Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of LiverpoolNMR Facility, Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of LiverpoolNMR Facility, Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of LiverpoolCentre for Metabolomics Research, Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of LiverpoolSchool of Agriculture, University of Cape CoastInstitute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queens University BelfastCentre for Metabolomics Research, Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of LiverpoolCentre for Metabolomics Research, Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of LiverpoolAbstract Determining the geographic origin of palm oil in West Africa is vital for economic, environmental, and health reasons. It enhances traceability, protects local farmers, supports conservation by monitoring deforestation, and reduces food fraud, ensuring quality and regulatory compliance. Portable Raman spectroscopy offers a rapid method to identify the origin of palm oils from West Africa. Using principal component analysis (PCA), distinct clusters in scores plots were observed which reflected the geographic origin of the palm oils, with loadings from the first principal component (PC-1) highlighting β-carotene as a major source of variation among the samples. To quantify β-carotene content, a partial least squares regression (PLS-R) model was developed in coconut oil as the base oil as it is known to be β-carotene free. Once calibrated, PLS-R was used to rank the palm oil from West Africa based on their β-carotene levels. The resulting models in coconut oil demonstrated strong linearity and predictive performance, with R² and Q² values of 0.9848 and 0.9552, respectively, alongside low root mean square errors of cross-validation (0.1282 mM) and prediction (0.0747 mM); moreover, this model allows the palm oils to be ranked based on β-carotene content which was entirely reflective of the oils position in PC-1 from PCA. These findings underscore the potential of Raman spectroscopy as an effective tool for authenticating the geographic origin of palm oil from West Africa.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-025-00462-3 |
| spellingShingle | Joe Stradling Cassio Lima Rudi Grosman Igor Barsukov Yun Xu Ernest Teye Chris Elliott Howbeer Muhamadali Royston Goodacre Raman on the palm: handheld Raman spectroscopy for enhanced traceability of palm oil npj Science of Food |
| title | Raman on the palm: handheld Raman spectroscopy for enhanced traceability of palm oil |
| title_full | Raman on the palm: handheld Raman spectroscopy for enhanced traceability of palm oil |
| title_fullStr | Raman on the palm: handheld Raman spectroscopy for enhanced traceability of palm oil |
| title_full_unstemmed | Raman on the palm: handheld Raman spectroscopy for enhanced traceability of palm oil |
| title_short | Raman on the palm: handheld Raman spectroscopy for enhanced traceability of palm oil |
| title_sort | raman on the palm handheld raman spectroscopy for enhanced traceability of palm oil |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-025-00462-3 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT joestradling ramanonthepalmhandheldramanspectroscopyforenhancedtraceabilityofpalmoil AT cassiolima ramanonthepalmhandheldramanspectroscopyforenhancedtraceabilityofpalmoil AT rudigrosman ramanonthepalmhandheldramanspectroscopyforenhancedtraceabilityofpalmoil AT igorbarsukov ramanonthepalmhandheldramanspectroscopyforenhancedtraceabilityofpalmoil AT yunxu ramanonthepalmhandheldramanspectroscopyforenhancedtraceabilityofpalmoil AT ernestteye ramanonthepalmhandheldramanspectroscopyforenhancedtraceabilityofpalmoil AT chriselliott ramanonthepalmhandheldramanspectroscopyforenhancedtraceabilityofpalmoil AT howbeermuhamadali ramanonthepalmhandheldramanspectroscopyforenhancedtraceabilityofpalmoil AT roystongoodacre ramanonthepalmhandheldramanspectroscopyforenhancedtraceabilityofpalmoil |