Site‐specific isotope fractionation of hydrogen was investigated, at natural abundance, by deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (SNIF‐NMR) on nearly two hundred olive oil samples. Owing to the complexity of the 2H‐NMR spectra of the mixtures of fatty acids obtained after hydrolysis of the oils, the different signals were gathered into six clusters. Knowing the contribution to the clusters of each of the four fatty acids considered (C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, and C18:2) and the composition of the fatty acids in the mixture, it is possible to compute the site‐specific isotope ratios of the clusters from the molar fractions obtained from the 2H‐NMR‐spectra and from the total isotope ratio of the mixture, determined by isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). The results are discussed in terms of geographical (country, region and elevation) and temporal (year) parameters and they are tentatively explained on a climatic basis.
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Royer et al. (1999) studied this question.