Background. Vegetable oils play an important role in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. They are not only a source of nutrients, but also a carrier of bioactive substances as an ingredient of creams or emulsions. Some oils, like extra virgin olive oil or argan oil, due to high consumer demand and high prices, may be subject to adulteration by using cheaper and easily accessible oils. Hence, the need to develop new research methods enabling the quick identification of such adulterations, but also enabling the assessment of oil quality, e.g. in variable storage conditions. Typically, gas chromatography (GC) is used to assess the profile of fatty acids. Oil parameters such as acid number, peroxide value and iodine number are also assessed to determine oil quality. Nevertheless, instead of performing all the abovementioned tests, these parameters can also be determined directly from ¹H NMR spectra. Hence, there is great potential for using this method in quick screening of oil quality. The ¹H NMR technique has been growing in importance in recent years in researching the quality and composition of food, including vegetable oils. Multidimensional NMR techniques and analysis of other nuclei (¹³C NMR) are also used in the study of oils. The aim of this work is to present the applications of the most commonly used ¹H NMR technique.
Results and Conclusions. The article contains examples of the application of this method in testing the composition, quality and authenticity of olive oil, hemp oil and argan oil as oils used (both in the food, medical or cosmetic context) and becoming more and more popular among consumers.