A large number of certified samples (84) of Sicilian olive oils arising from the eight cultivars most represented in Sicily (Biancolilla, Cerasuola, Moresca, Nocellara del Belice, Nocellara Etnea, Oglialora Messinese, Brandofino and Tonda Iblea) have been collected and analyzed by HPLC/MS using an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) source. The sample preparation is very simple; in fact, the oil samples are diluted without any chemical derivatization. A following statistical data treatment by general discriminant analysis (GDA) allows the determination of the olive oil cultivar. Furthermore, changes in the composition of glyceridic components of the olive oils lead to easy discrimination between fresh oils and 1-year-old samples.
2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.