The employment of analytical techniques and chemometrics for authentication of fish oils: A review

Background: Fish oils are good sources of omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 and ω-6 PUFA) having beneficial effects to human health; therefore, fish oils could be considered as functional oils, to be used in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. Thus, fish oils are subjected to be mislabeling declared or adulteration with low price oils like animal fats and plant oils. The objective of this review was to provide a scientific view on some analytical methods based on molecular spectroscopy and chromatography combined with chemometrics which are widely used for authentication of fish oils. Scope and approach: This review highlighted various analytical methods including molecular spectroscopy and chromatography techniques which were deeply investigated in terms of quality information provided for fish oils authentication. Key findings and conclusions: Combined with multivariate analysis or chemometrics, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and other molecular spectroscopies offered suitable methods for rapid screening the adulteration methods. Furthermore, chromatographic methods hyphenated with mass detector (GC x GC-MS and LC-MS/MS) are reliable methods for confirming the adulteration practice by identifying the specific components present in authentic or in adulterated fish oils. This review assisted the regulators and producers to choose which methods suitable to be used in their responsibilities.