Composition and analysis for authenticity

Analytical methods for determining the authenticity of vegetable fats have classically been based on comparison of the composition of some major and minor components. For the most important traded oils, tables of the composition (i.e. profiles) of the major fatty acids and sterols have been of importance and have in some cases been supported by data describing other components such as triacylglycerols, sterol esters, volatiles, waxes and fatty alcohols. 

The composition and properties of cocoa butter have been summarized (Chalseri and Dimick, 1987) and extensive details of the composition of cocoa butter and CBA fats have been compiled (Wong Soon, 1991 Lipp and Anklam, 1998a Lipp et al., 2001). There are serious problems to be considered when applying sets of historical and some contemporary data to the determination of fat authenticity, particularly where this involves the widely used sterol, triacyl-glycerol and fatty acid data. Improvements in the resolution of chromatography 

All of the classical analytical techniques applied to oils analysis have been applied to studying the authenticity of cocoa butter and considerable attention has been paid to the issue of detecting and quantifying non-cocoa fats in mixtures with cocoa butter and as incorporated into chocolate. A substantial review of these methods has been published (Lipp and Anklam, 1998b). 

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