Classification of vegetable oils based on their concentration of saturated fatty acids using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS)

•Contribution to the study features of plasma of organic media.•Classification of vegetable oils with LIBS through the analysis of molecular spectra.•We find that C2 were released from the molecule containing carbon-carbon bonds linear.•Relationship between C2 and the concentration of saturated fatty acids care out. Spectrochemical analyses of organic liquid media such as vegetable oils and sweetened water were performed with the use of LIBS. The aim of this work is to study, on the basis of spectral analyses by LIBS technique of “Swan band” of C2 emitted by different vegetable oils in liquid phase, the characteristics of each organic media. Furthermore this paper proposes, as a classification, a single parameter that could be used to determine the concentration of saturated fatty acids of vegetable oils. A Nd:YAG operating at λ=532nm and an energies per pulse of 30mJ was focused onto the surface of the liquid in ambient air. Following ablation of vegetable oils and sweetened water, we find that vibrational bonds of C2 were released from the molecule containing carbon–carbon bonds linear. In the case of vegetable oils, we find a clear relationship between C2 emission from the plasma and the concentration of saturated fatty acids in the oil.