Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Contamination in Edible Oils: A Review

Safety concerns pertaining to PAHs occurrence in agri-food commodities have been a source of great concern. Concerns have been expressed about offering additional insights on screening agri-food commodities to benefit consumers, as evidence-based study knowledge on the health risks posed by ingestion of PAHs-contaminated food by people has increased. According to research, the majority of edible oil-yielding seeds are contaminated with PAHs. These toxins of PAHs can enter the human food chain through the consumption of edible oils. At present, the control of PAHs is mainly through the optimization of the production process, and the specificity is not strong. PAHs' contamination levels varied in different edible oils depending on the type of oil, production process and oilseeds' storage conditions. In this overview, we have decisively assessed the existing data on PAH incidence, main sources, and decontamination in assorted edible oils. This review seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of existing and emerging methods/technologies for PAH determination and elimination, in order to bridge information gaps toward ensuring a green and sustainable remedial approach for PAH-contaminated in edible plant-based oils. This work summarizes the very recently published works of the last years.Abbreviations: PAHs, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; HPAHs, high Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; LPAHs, low Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Nap, naphthalene; Acy, acenaphthylene; Ace, acenaphthene; Flu, fluorine; Phe, phenanthrene; Ant, anthracene; Flt, fluoranthene; Pyr, pyrene; BaA, benz[a]anthracene; Chr, chrysene; BbF, benzo[b]fluoranthene; BkF, benzo[k]flouranthene; BaP, benzo[a]pyrene; DahA, dibenz[a,h]anthracene; BghiP, benzo[g,h,i] perylene; IcdP, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene; 5MC, 5-methylchrysene; BjF, benzo[j]fluoranthene; DBaiP, dibenzo[a,i]pyrene; DalP, dibenzo[a,l]pyrene; DaeP, dibenzo[a,e]pyrene; DahP, dibenzo[a,h]pyrene; GC, gas chromatography; FLD, fluorescence detector; MS, mass spectrometry; SPE, solid-phase extraction; HACA, hydrogen abstraction acetylene addition; SPMD, short path molecular distillation; TP, tocopherol; TBHQ, tert-butyl hydroquinone; PET, polyethylene, HDPE, high-density polyethylene; LDPE, low-density polyethylene.