Analytical Methods for Olive Oil Elemental Profile and Influence of Carbonic Snow Addition in the Extraction Phase
 Claudia Zoani1), Giovanna Zappa1),
Angela Zinnai2), Francesca Venturi2), Chiara Sanmartin2)
1) ENEA - Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Economic Sustainable Development - Technical Unit "Sustainable Development and Innovation of Agro-industrial System" (UTAGRI) – C.R. Casaccia, Via Anguillarese 301 - 00123 Rome (Italy)
2) University of Pisa - Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Agro-ambientali Department (DiSAAA)
Via del Borghetto 80 - 56124 Pisa (Italy)

Food traceability and safety represent key factors for ensuring food quality and protecting consumers’ interests. Suitable traceability systems are needed to document the history of a product along the entire supply chain (from primary production to the final use), to protect high quality productions from frauds and sophistications and contain health safety risks. To make objective and measurable food quality and traceability, it is necessary to develop analytical methods useful to detect contaminants potentially coming from any phases of the supply chain and define characteristic markers and patterns for the authenticity verification and origin demonstration.
In this work we present the results of experimental tests on olive oil aimed to develop analytical methods for evaluating the elemental profile and the influence of different process technologies and conditions on the olive oil elemental profile. Olive oil samples will be submitted - after appropriate pre-treatments - to chemical analyses focused to establish the elemental composition (macro-, micro- and trace elements) and to define characteristic elemental patterns. The following analytical techniques will be applied and compared: Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS), Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and Electro-Thermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (ET-AAS). These techniques allow the determination (also simultaneously) of nutritional elements (e.g.: Fe, Zn, Cu), environmental contaminants and contaminants from transformation processes, storage and packaging (e.g.: Pb, Cd, Ni), and trace elements to be used for the definition of characteristic fingerprints linked to the territorial product origin. In addition, it will be evaluated the influence of the addition of “carbonic snow” as adjuvant during crushing and/or kneading (for the oil extraction from olives) by comparing the olive oil elemental profiles obtained with or without the “carbonic snow” addition.