Characterization of Bulgarian Rosehip Oil by GC-MS, UV-VIS Spectroscopy, Colorimetry, FTIR Spectroscopy, and 3D Excitation–Emission Fluorescence Spectra

Nikolova, Krastena; Eftimov, Tinko; Panova, Natalina; Vladev, Veselin; Fouzar, Samia; Nikolov, Kristian

doi:10.3390/molecules30193964

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Characterization of Bulgarian Rosehip Oil by GC-MS, UV-VIS Spectroscopy, Colorimetry, FTIR Spectroscopy, and 3D Excitation–Emission Fluorescence Spectra

by

Krastena Nikolova

¹

,

Tinko Eftimov

^2,3,1,*

,

Natalina Panova

¹,

Veselin Vladev

⁴,

Samia Fouzar

² and

Kristian Nikolov

³

¹

Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University-Varna, Blvd Tzar Osvoboditel 84, 9000 Varna, Bulgaria

²

Centre de Recherche en Photonique, Département D’informatique et D’ingénierie, Université du Québec en Outaouais, 101 rue St-Jean Bosco, Gatineau, QC J8Y 3G5, Canada

³

Central Laboratory for Applied Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 61 Blvd Sanct Peterburg, 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria

⁴

Department of Mathematics, Physics and Information Technologies, Faculty of Economics, University of Food Technologies, 26 Maritsa Blvd., 4002 Plovdiv, Bulgaria

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Molecules 2025, 30(19), 3964; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30193964

Submission received: 16 August 2025 / Revised: 24 September 2025 / Accepted: 27 September 2025 / Published: 2 October 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Food Analytical Methods)

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Abstract

We report the study of seven commercially available rosehip oils (Rosa canina L.) using GC-MS, colorimetry (CIELab), UV-VIS, FTIR, and 3D EEM fluorescence spectroscopy, including using a smartphone spectrometer. GC-MS revealed two groups of oil samples with different chemical constituents: ω-6-dominant with 45–51% α-linolenic acid (samples S1, S2, and S5–S7) and ω-3-dominant with 47–49% α-linolenic, 7.3–19.1% oleic, 1.9–2.8% palmitic, 1.0–1.8% stearic, and 0.1–0.72% arachidic acid (S3, S4). In S1 PUFA content was found to be ~75% with ω-6/ω-3 ≈ 2:1. Favorable lipid indices of AI 0.0197–0.0302, TI 0.0208–0.0304, and h/H 33.0–50.6 were observed. The highest h/H (50.55) was observed in S5 and the lowest TI (0.0208) in S3. FTIR showed characteristic lines at ~3021, 2929/2853, 1749, and ~1370 cm⁻¹, and PCA yielded 60–80% variation and separated S1 from the rest of the samples, while the clusters grouped S5 and S6. The smartphone spectrometer also reproduced the individual differences in sample volumes ≤ 1 µL under 355–395 nm UV excitation. The non-destructive optical markers reflect the fatty acid profile and allow fast low-cost identification and quality control. An integrated control method including routine optical screening, periodic CG-MS verification, and chemometric models to trace oxidation and counterfeiting is suggested.

Keywords: Rosa canina L. oil; gas chromatography; colorimetry; UV-Vis spectrometry; FTIR; fluorescence 3D excitation-emission matrices; smartphone spectrometer

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MDPI and ACS Style

Nikolova, K.; Eftimov, T.; Panova, N.; Vladev, V.; Fouzar, S.; Nikolov, K. Characterization of Bulgarian Rosehip Oil by GC-MS, UV-VIS Spectroscopy, Colorimetry, FTIR Spectroscopy, and 3D Excitation–Emission Fluorescence Spectra. Molecules 2025, 30, 3964. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30193964

AMA Style

Nikolova K, Eftimov T, Panova N, Vladev V, Fouzar S, Nikolov K. Characterization of Bulgarian Rosehip Oil by GC-MS, UV-VIS Spectroscopy, Colorimetry, FTIR Spectroscopy, and 3D Excitation–Emission Fluorescence Spectra. Molecules. 2025; 30(19):3964. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30193964

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nikolova, Krastena, Tinko Eftimov, Natalina Panova, Veselin Vladev, Samia Fouzar, and Kristian Nikolov. 2025. "Characterization of Bulgarian Rosehip Oil by GC-MS, UV-VIS Spectroscopy, Colorimetry, FTIR Spectroscopy, and 3D Excitation–Emission Fluorescence Spectra" Molecules 30, no. 19: 3964. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30193964

APA Style

Nikolova, K., Eftimov, T., Panova, N., Vladev, V., Fouzar, S., & Nikolov, K. (2025). Characterization of Bulgarian Rosehip Oil by GC-MS, UV-VIS Spectroscopy, Colorimetry, FTIR Spectroscopy, and 3D Excitation–Emission Fluorescence Spectra. Molecules, 30(19), 3964. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30193964

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Characterization of Bulgarian Rosehip Oil by GC-MS, UV-VIS Spectroscopy, Colorimetry, FTIR Spectroscopy, and 3D Excitation–Emission Fluorescence Spectra

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