Omics Technologies: A Strategy to Expedite the Geographical Traceability and Authenticity of Palm Oil

Abstract

The omics approaches, which are made up of many different fields that focus on genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to understand systems biology, have been implemented to study the traceability and authenticity of various edible oils. Studies using single-omics or integrated multi-omics have helped to explain how metabolites, proteins, and nucleic acids vary in composition. The single-omics studies on the tracking of edible oils can aid in implementing traceability and quality scheme labels such as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). The use of omics approaches to develop and support the traceability system for palm oil is scarce and new. Palm oil is well-known for its importance in both the food and non-food industries. The increasing global demand for palm oil has led to concerns regarding traceability and authentication among consumers. Traceability and authentication measures are critical components in ensuring the quality and sustainability of palm oil. In order to achieve this, several traceability methods have been introduced throughout the palm oil supply chain. The use of omics approaches can increase the scope of traceability and authenticity to verify the origin and overall production process of palm oil. The purpose of this review is to give an insight into how omics technologies could be helpful as tools to evaluate the traceability and authentication of palm oil.