Sesamin and sesamolin as unexpected contaminants in various cold-pressed plant oils: NP-HPLC/FLD/DAD and RP-UPLC-ESI/MSn study

Thirteen cold-pressed oils (Japanese quince seed, black caraway, flaxseed, rapeseed, hemp, peanut, sunflower, pumpkin, hazelnut, poppy, walnut, almond and sesame oil) manufactured by the same company over a 2-year period (2011-12) were assessed for lipophilic compounds. The presence of sesamin and sesamolin, two characteristic lignans of sesame oil, were detected in all tested plant oils. Both lignans were identified by NP-HPLC/FLD/DAD and confirmed by a RP-UPLC-ESI/MSn method. The lowest amount of sesamin and sesamolin was found for Japanese quince seed oil (0.10 and 0.27mg/100g), and the highest, excluding sesame oil, for almond oil (36.21 and 105.42mg/100g, respectively). The highly significant correlation between sesamolin and sesamin concentrations was found in all samples tested (r=0.9999; p<0.00001). These results indicate contamination of cold-pressed oils from the same source. This investigation highlights the fact that increasing the range of products manufactured by the same company can contribute to a lesser regard for the quality of the final product. Moreover, less attention paid to the quality of final product can be related to the health risks of consumers especially sensitive to allergens. Therefore, proper cleaning of processing equipment is needed to prevent cross-contact of cold-pressed oils.