Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy applied for rapid analysis of lard in palm oil

The presence of lard in vegetable oils like palm oil is serious matter for certain communities like Muslim and Hindis. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been used for determination of lard in palm oil. Lard, palm oil and their binary mixtures in the neat form was scanned at mid infrared region (4,000 – 650 cm^-1) using attenuated total reflectance accessory as convenient sampling technique. The level of lard in palm oil was determined at frequency regions of 1480 – 1085 cm-1 with the aid of partial least square. The relationship between actual value of lard (x-axis) and FTIR predicted value (y-axis) showed linear correlation with coefficient of determination of 0.998. The root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) value of lard was 1.69 %, while the value of square error of cross validation was 2.87 % (v/v). This result indicated that FTIR spectroscopy is accurate and precise enough for such determination.