The saponification value of fats and oils is one of the most common quality indices, reflecting the mean molecular weight of the constituting triacylglycerols. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR) spectra of fats and oils display specific resonances for the protons from the structural patterns of the triacylglycerols (i.e., the glycerol backbone), methylene (-CH₂-) groups, double bonds (-CH=CH-) and the terminal methyl (-CH₃) group from the three fatty acyl chains. Consequently, chemometric equations based on the integral values of the ¹H-NMR resonances allow for the calculation of the mean molecular weight of triacylglycerol species, leading to the determination of the number of moles of triacylglycerol species per 1 g of fat and eventually to the calculation of the saponification value (SV), expressed as mg KOH/g of fat. The algorithm was verified on a series of binary mixtures of tributyrin (TB) and vegetable oils (i.e., soybean and rapeseed oils) in various ratios, ensuring a wide range of SV. Compared to the conventional technique for SV determination (ISO 3657:2013) based on titration, the obtained ¹H-NMR-based saponification values differed by a mean percent deviation of 3%, suggesting the new method is a convenient and rapid alternate approach. Moreover, compared to other reported methods of determining the SV from spectroscopic data, this method is not based on regression equations and, consequently, does not require calibration from a database, as the SV is computed directly and independently from the ¹H-NMR spectrum of a given oil/fat sample.

Plum vinegar represents a functional food product valued for its potential health benefits, largely attributed to its polyphenolic content. This study investigates the quality parameters of vinegars produced from five Romanian plum varieties (Centenar, Agent, Andreea, Anna Spath and Romanian Vanata), focusing on their physicochemical and phenolic profiles. Analyses included pH, total acidity, colorimetric evaluation, total polyphenolic content (TPC), antioxidant activity, and ATR-FTIR and ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. The vinegars exhibited pH values ranging from 3.2 to 3.7 and TPC values between 250 and 350 mg GAE/L during fermentation, with higher concentrations (up to 400 mg GAE/L) recorded post-aging. These findings support the potential of Romanian plum varieties as valuable raw materials for producing high-quality, polyphenol-rich fruit vinegars.

Extracts rich in bioactive compounds from natural sources have received great interest due to their great impact on human health. The aim of this research is focused on the obtaining and characterization of several extracts from Juglans regia L. leaves in four different maturity phases: young green leaves (YGL), green leaves (GL), mature green leaves (MGL), and yellow leaves (YL), using different solvents: ethanol (e), water (w), or water:ethanol (1:1 (v/v)—m) by employing several methods: magnetic stirring (MS), ultrasound-assisted (UA), as well as maceration (M). The obtained extracts were quantitatively evaluated through spectrophotometric methods: Total Polyphenol Content (TPC-Folin–Ciocalteu assay) and Total Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC assay). Phytochemical screening by means of Fourier-Transform Ion–Cyclotron-Resonance High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) indicated the presence of 40 compounds belonging to different phytochemical classes: phenolic acids, flavonoids, flavones, flavanones, flavonones, flavanols, vitamins, tereponoid, steroid, anthocyanidin, and other compounds. Based on TPC and TEAC assays, the water-ethanol mixture was found to be the proper extraction solvent, with the best results being obtained for YL plant material: 146.29 mg GAE/g DM (TPC) and 11.67 mM TE/g DM (TEAC). This type of extract may be used in various domains, such as the cosmetics industry, the biomedical field, and/or the design of functional foods, relying on their phytochemical composition.

The main objective of this research consists in finding a rapid method for cheese lipidomics based on NMR data. This study plays an important role in differentiation and characterization of cheese samples in accordance with fat composition, especially in the case of fat substitution with exogenous animal or vegetal fat. Our findings play an important role in relation to religious requirements regarding non-allowed foods (pork fat, for example, in some cultures) and in the correct characterization of foods according to their lipidic profile. The approach consists in establishing a fingerprint region (0.86–0.93 ppm from ¹H-NMR spectra) and then creating a database of the results obtained. The evaluation of the long-chain saturated fatty acids and the saturated short-chain fatty acids (C4 to C8) was established with a newly developed set of equations that make the computation possible even when mixtures of fats from different sources are present. This was accomplished by developing a new method for quantification of the fatty acid composition of different types of cheese, based on ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to 40 cheese samples with varying degrees (0%, 5%, 12%, or 15%) of milk fat substitution (pork fat, vegetable fat, hydrogenated oils) and different clotting agents (calcium chloride or citric acid). The best sample discrimination was achieved using fatty acid profiles estimated from ¹H-NMR data (using a total of six variables), explaining 89.7% of the total variance. Clear separation was observed between samples containing only milk fat and those with added fats. These results demonstrate that the integration of ¹H-NMR spectroscopy with principal component analysis (PCA) provides a reliable approach for discriminating cheese samples according to their fat composition.

This research evaluates the influence of extraction method, solvent, and processing time on the recovery of phenolic compounds from Eucalyptus globulus leaves and their corresponding antioxidant capacity, through approaches with reduced energy and chemical consumption. Magnetic stirring (MS), and ultrasound- (US) and microwave-assisted (MW) extraction were applied using water or low-ethanol hydroalcoholic systems. Total phenolic content (TPC; Folin–Ciocalteu method) and antioxidant activity (AA; TEAC assay), were assessed to determine the functional properties of the extracts. FT-ICR MS was used to characterize the phytochemical profile. A hydroalcoholic system combined with non-conventional techniques improved extraction efficiency compared to an aqueous system and reduced the processing time. Among the investigated MW conditions, extraction at 360 W for 30 s provided the highest TPC and AA values (252 mg GAE/g DM; 65.67 mg TE/g DM), while US provided maximum TPC of 191 mg GAE/g DM (30 min extraction). MS showed the lowest performance (77 mg GAE/g DM). Phenolic acids, flavonoids, and ellagitannins were assigned across evaluated samples, indicating that the used conditions do not influence the extracts’ qualitative composition. Overall, MW extraction enabled rapid phenolic species recovery under short processing times and low-ethanol conditions, representing a promising approach among the investigated extraction systems.