A machine learning-based approach for predicting the level of palm oil adulteration in coconut oil

Coconut oil, prized for its health benefits, faces quality threats from adulteration, particularly with cheaper palm oil. This not only degrades the quality but also poses health risks. Traditional detection methods are often labor-intensive, destructive, and time-consuming. This study addresses the issue by applying multispectral imaging technology combined with machine learning to detect palm oil adulteration in coconut oil. We selected four machine learning algorithms—Support Vector Machines (SVM), Quadratic Discriminant Analysis (QDA), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and Bagging—due to their robustness in handling complex datasets. These models achieved classification accuracies of up to 100 %, far surpassing traditional chemical tests, which are slower and dependent on tester expertise. To further enhance detection accuracy, we employed both hard- and soft-voting mechanisms, integrating the strengths of individual models to improve overall reliability. This research marks a significant advancement in detecting coconut oil adulteration, offering a faster, more efficient solution to ensure product quality and consumer health.