ABSTRACT

The peel oils derived from citrus fruits are used extensively as natural flavourings and perfumery ingredients. Their extraction from the fruit is complicated by a number of factors, not the least of which are their low level of occurrence in the fruit and the losses intrinsic to the methods of recovery. From the very earliest days of trading such oils, these difficulties have undoubtedly encouraged unscrupulous producers and traders to seek to improve the profitability of their operations by fraudulent practices. For obvious reasons the perpetrators of such actions have guarded zealously the methods that they have used for extending and cheapening their oils. Thus, the onus has been on the users to recognise doubtful oils and to devise reliable physical and analytical procedures capable of identifying them. Since it was first recognised that commercial oils were frequently adulterated, the users have been under considerable pressure to keep abreast of the more subtle and devious procedures introduced to mask non-authentic oils.