Abstract
The presence of chlorophylls in vegetable oils is considered undesirable due to their adverse effects on oxidative deterioration, bleachability and hydrogenation. The usual methods for determination of chlorophylls in vegetable oils are absorption spectrophotometry, fluorometry and liquid chromatography using fluorescence detectors. This paper outlines a fluorometric method using a laser as the excitation source. The chlorophylls in crude palm oil, rapeseed oil, soya bean oil and olive oil were determined directly by laser‐based fluorometry using (a) a helium‐neon laser (632‐8 nm, 5 mW) as the excitation source and an optical‐multichannel analyser (OMA) with an intensified diode array as the detector, and (b) a helium‐neon laser and a photomultiplier tube as the detector. The method is especially suitable for the detection of chlorophylls in crude palm oil since no pre‐extraction step is required. The levels of chlorophylls measured in vegetable oils using the laser technique was also compared against values obtained by conventional spectrophotometric methods. The simplicity and rapid quantification of laser based fluorometry suggest that this technique can be readily applied to the detection or a wide variety of fluorescing species in vegetable oils.