Volatile phenols in virgin olive oils: Influence of olive variety on their formation during fruits storage

The potential significance as odorants and markers of olive fruits degradation has been recently pointed out for volatile phenols in virgin olive oil (VOO) and related to the appearance of VOO sensory defects. The few studies carried out in order to elucidate the factors affecting their formation in olive fruits or VOOs, indicated that they could be considered as analytical indices of olive fruits degradation during storage, likely reflecting the microbiological activity. In the present study, the effect of the olive variety (‘Arbequina’, ‘Arbosana’ and ‘Leccino’) on the production of volatile phenols during twelve days of storage in closed plastic bags was evaluated. The different resistance of each variety to the microbiological attach was observed during olive fruit storage, and it was reflected by the evolution of guaiacol, 4-ethylphenol and 4-ethylguaiacol, and related to free acidity values. On the contrary, a scarce dependence on the microbial growth or varietal factors was observed for 4-vinyl derivatives, which appeared more directly related to the time of olives storage. The evolution of volatile phenols found certain correspondence in the sensory characteristics of the resulting VOOs, while the rest of VOO chemical quality indices did not show major variations during fruits storage.     

Influence of malaxation temperature and time on the quality of virgin olive oils

To study the influence of operative conditions adopted during the malaxation of pastes on the quality of resulting oils, we compared sensory characteristics, secoiridoid compounds and the volatile composition of oils extracted from homogeneous batches of olive fruits from Coratina and Frantoio cultivars by using different malaxation times and temperatures. Malaxation time, and especially temperature, negatively affected the intensity of sensory attributes and the content of secoiridoid compounds, modified the composition of metabolites arising from lipoxygenase (LOX) pathways, reducing volatile compounds displaying pleasant sensations and increasing those giving less attractive perceptions, and also elevated the production of 2-methyl butanal and 3-methyl butanal through amino acid conversion. Low temperatures and times, ranging between 30 and 45 min, according to the rheology of the olive pastes, were the optimal operative conditions for the malaxation.     

Effect of phospholipids on extraction of hydrophilic phenols from virgin olive oils

Three methods, most frequently used in hydrophilic phenols extraction from virgin olive oils (liquid–liquid, solid-phase with C18 and solid phase with diol-bound sorbents), were applied on virgin olive oils enriched with 2.0–10.0 mg/kg of phospholipids (granular de-oiled soy lecithin). Phospholipids addition significantly decreased the total phenols concentration determined colorimetrically. Liquid–liquid extraction showed the best repeatability and recovery, and the lowest decrease of total phenols extracted in the presence of phospholipids. Extraction rate declined with the increase of phospholipids concentration, but showed a kind of saturation behaviour. Addition of phospholipids (5 g/kg) to various commercial extra virgin olive oils resulted in a different degree of total phenols decrease (from 1% to 45%), probably because of different affinity of phospholipids toward different classes of phenolic compounds. During prolonged contact time between phenols and phospholipids (60-days storage), oxidation monitored by K270 and a decrease of total phenols concentration proceeded more rapidly in the presence of phospholipids.     

Effect of crushing on olive paste and virgin olive oil minor components

The present study focuses on the influence of the olive crushing technique on the minor composition of olive pastes and their corresponding virgin olive oils since these compounds are strongly related to their quality and characteristics. Two different cultivars, Arbequina and Cornicabra—known for their different minor component composition—were processed at laboratory scale using hammer mills at various breakage forces and grid hole diameters, a blade cutter and a mortar. Crushing and kneading produce a profound change in the composition of the phenolic compounds in the olive paste and in the final oil. Hydroxytyrosol derivatives in virgin olive oil were most affected by the crushing conditions. The stronger the crushing conditions (i.e. hammer crushers using smaller grid holes and a higher rotation speed), the higher the phenolic content in both olive paste and oil in both varieties. Interestingly, the effect on volatile compounds of milder or stronger crushing conditions was opposite to that described for the phenolic compounds.     

Influence of filtration on volatile compounds and sensory profile of virgin olive oils

The influence of filtration through a hydrophilic cotton layer on volatile compounds, sensory characteristics and colour of two monovarietal oils was investigated in this study. Volatiles were evaluated using headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography. After the filtration of Bu?a oils only a slight increase in total alcohols was noticed. In filtered ?rna oils a significant decrease of total alcohols and slight changes in total aldehydes, total ketones and total C5 volatile compounds concentration were detected. No significant influence on the sensory scores of oils, but some slight changes in sensorial profiles were noted (slightly higher intensities of sensory characteristics apple and grass, and higher values of the lightness L^∗ in filtered samples). The results point to unequal filtration impact on different monovarietal oils and could be useful in developing targeted technologies for specific monovarietal oils quality improvement.     

Statistical analysis on Sicilian olive oils

A robust multivariate statistical procedure applied to an accurate gas chromatography (GC) analysis was used to analyze 1004 monovarietal and multivarietal Sicilian extra virgin olive oils coming from 22 cultivars of different geographical areas of Sicily and collected in nine years (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002). The effect of the cultivar, of pedoclimatic conditions as well as of the year of harvesting on the olive oil fatty acid composition and therefore on their classification was investigated. Oleic, linoleic and palmitic fatty acids, important for the nutritional properties of an olive oil, showed a crucial rule in the characterization of olive oils.     

Influence of the malaxation time and olive ripening stage on oil quality and phenolic compounds of virgin olive oils

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the malaxation time (Mt) and ripening stage on oil quality and phenolic compounds of Hojiblanca and Picual virgin olive oils. In both varieties of oil, phenolic content and oxidative stability decreased as ripening progressed. The total level of tocopherols diminished by up to 40% as fruit ripened. The compositions of palmitic, stearic, lignoceric, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids were significantly influenced by the ripening process. The present work shows that an increased Mt promoted the increase of free acidity (up to 13.3%) and tocopherols (up to 11.6%) and negatively affected the oxidative stability and the concentration of phenols. Further research is required to determine ripening stages and malaxation conditions for all olive oil varieties to achieve a satisfactory balance between the improvement of both oil yield and oil quality and composition.     

Multiple pharmacological effects of olive oil phenols

Olive oil is a unique component of Mediterranean diet and is likely to be partially responsible for the health effects of this diet. Although the medicinal potential of olive oil has been largely attributed to the antioxidant effects of bio-phenols derived from olive oil, accumulating evidence strongly suggests that, to elucidate olive oil’s benefits to human health, we have to go beyond antioxidants. In this communication, through summarizing the reference-reported and database-recorded pharmacological information of olive oil phenols, we reveal that multiple pharmacological effects, other than antioxidant potential, are involved in olive oil phenols, which is of significance for understanding the health benefits of olive oil in the Mediterranean diet.     

Use of HPSEC analysis of polar compounds to assess the influence of crushing temperature on virgin olive oil's quality

An experimental trial was carried out to evaluate, by means of determination of polar compounds and their subsequent HPSEC analysis, the influence of the hammer-crusher temperature during the olive paste preparation prior to oil extraction. Olives of Cima di Bitonto cultivar were processed utilising a laboratory-scale hammer-crusher conditioned at three different temperatures (12, 16 and 20 °C). The analytical results showed that the quality of the extracted oils was negatively influenced by increasing the crushing temperature. The oils obtained at higher crusher temperatures were more susceptible to oxidation than the oils obtained with crusher conditioned at lower temperatures. The HPSEC analysis of polar compounds was found to be useful to evaluate the oxidative and hydrolytic degradation levels of virgin olive oils also after slight thermal raising.     

Distribution of simple phenols,phenolic acids and flavonoids in Turkish monovarietal extra virgin olive oils for two harvest years

Monovarietal extra virgin olive oils extracted from six dominant and economically important Turkish olive cultivars (memecik, erkence, domat, nizip-yaglik, gemlik, ayvalik) were examined for their simple phenolics, phenolic acids and flavonoid compounds over 2005 and 2006 harvest years. Total phenol contents, oxidative stabilities and chromatic ordinates as colour parameters were also measured. The most typical phenolic compounds that were identified in both years are hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, cinnamic acid, luteolin, and apigenin. Multivariate data were analysed by principal component and partial least square-discriminant analyses. It was observed that phenolic profiles of olive oils depended highly on harvest season. In addition, oils of different olive cultivars have different distribution of phenols. No significant correlation was observed between oxidative stability and phenolic compounds. Increase in peroxide value over an accelerated oxidation period of 11 days showed weak correlations with total phenol content, vanillin, syringic acid and colour parameter a^∗, as 0.56, 0.55, −0.42, and 0.51, respectively, in terms of correlation coefficient r.     

Influence of fruit ripening process on the natural antioxidant content of Hojiblanca virgin olive oils

The effect of fruit ripeness on the antioxidant content of `Hojiblanca' virgin olive oils was studied. Seasonal changes were monitored at bi-weekly intervals for three consecutive crop years. Phenolic content, tocopherol composition, bitterness index, carotenoid and chlorophyllic pigments and oxidative stability were analysed. In general, the antioxidants and the related parameters decreased as olive fruit ripened. The phenolics and bitterness, closely related parameters, did not present significant differences among years. Although in general, the tocopherols decreased during olive ripening γ-tocopherol increased. Differences between crop years were found only for total tocopherols and α-tocopherol, which showed higher content in low rainfall year oils. The pigment content decreased during ripening, chlorophyll changing faster. For low rainfall years, the level of pigments was higher, reaching significant differences between yields. Significant differences among years were found for oil oxidative stability; higher values were obtained for drought years. A highly significant prediction model for oxidative stability has been obtained.     

Saturated hydrocarbon content in olive fruits and crude olive pomace oils

Olive fruits contain an n-alkane series of saturated hydrocarbons mainly in the pulp. Lower amounts of a complex mixture of paraffins, unresolved by gas chromatography (UCM – unresolved complex mixture), have been found in cuticle, stone (woody shell and seed), olive leaves, and talc used as an aid to olive oil extraction. The amounts of both kinds of hydrocarbons are related to the olive cultivar and are transferred to oils in a proportion depending on the oil-obtaining process (centrifugation or solvent extraction). In olive oil obtained by centrifugation, only n-alkanes were detected. However, in olive oil extracted by second centrifugation, small amounts of UCM paraffins were detected together with the n-alkanes. Olive pomace oils showed a very variable content of both types of hydrocarbons according to the different obtaining process, such as double centrifugation, solvent extraction or centrifugation followed by solvent extraction. ‘White mineral oil’ used in oil extraction machinery is the source of the high concentrations of UCM paraffins found in some olive and olive pomace oils. In the case of second centrifugation olive oil, a maximum limit of 50 mg kg^?1 of UCM is suggested, whereas in the case of crude olive pomace oil, it amounts to 250 mg kg^?1 plus an additional minimum of 1.0 for the n-alkanes/UCM ratio.     

Phenolic content of commercial olive oils

The phenolic composition of commercial virgin olive oils (Picual, Hojiblanca, Arbequina and Cornicabra varieties) was studied by high performance liquid chromatography, sampling oils over 1 year. Oils sold in March displayed the lowest polyphenol concentration, particularly in secoiridoid aglycons. In contrast, lignans and tocopherols concentrations were not affected by sampling date. Among varieties, Picual and Cornicabra oils had slightly higher concentrations of polyphenols than Hojiblanca and Arbequina. Overall, the concentration of polyphenols in commercial Spanish virgin olive oils ranged from 330 to 500 mg/kg oil, which is higher than data reported previously. In contrast, "olive oil" and "pomace-olive oil" (mixtures of refined and virgin olive oils) had much lower concentrations in polyphenols than virgin olive oil, although higher than other edible vegetable oils. Thus, olive oil can be considered a good source of natural antioxidants. Moreover, the polyphenol and tocopherol contents of virgin olive oils were also found useful for the classification of the different commercial monovarietal oils when analysing the data by chemometric methods.     

Influence of olive cultivars and period of harvest on the contents of Cu,Cd, Pb,and Zn in virgin olive oils

Levels of four of the major pollutant heavy metals were assessed by ICP-OES in virgin olive oil monocultivar samples. The data showed high variability within cultivars for lead and zinc, whereas, for cadmium and copper, no statistical difference was observed. The influence of the cultivar and the stage of ripening of olives on heavy metal content was assessed; zinc was the only metal with a great variability within the first and the second harvest. All olive samples were processed with the same milling apparatus.     

Pigments composition in monovarietal virgin olive oils from various sicilian olive varieties

This paper presents the first investigation of the chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments composition in sicilian monovarietal virgin olive oils from the three (Cerasuola, Nocellara, Biancolilla) main olive varieties cultivated in Sicily (Italy). In all, 19 compounds were identified and quantified in 24 olive oil samples. The application of reversed-phase liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection using a C-30 column in the simultaneous qualitative–quantitative analysis of virgin olive oils pigments, has been shown. The qualitative pigment pattern was similar among the varieties investigated, whereas quantitative differences were found among the different cultivars, which can all be considered as having an high pigment content. Pheophytin a, was the major component (19.36–25.04 ppm), followed by β-carotene (8.06–16.27 ppm). Pheophytin a′ (2.92–4.17 ppm), lutein (2.28–4.49 ppm) and neoxanthin (1.54–2.11 ppm) were also well represented. The presence of carotenoid esters was also detected. The neoxanthin and β-carotene contents were higher compared to reports present in the literature for other olive oil varieties. This may be due to genetic factors and/or geographical differences. The ratio between the two isochromic pigment fractions, namely the chlorophyll and the carotenoid fractions, was around one in all varieties, showing that they were in balance. The lutein/β-carotene ratio was less than one in all cases. These parameters, along with other analytical parameters, could be used as indicators of typicality in olive oils. The presence of a specific pigment profile in olive oils could in fact be used to guarantee the genuineness of the product, since the quality control of food requires a precise knowledge of the pigments composition of the original products.     

Pigments profile in monovarietal virgin olive oils from various Italian olive varieties

This paper presents the investigation of the chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments composition in monovarietal virgin olive oils produced from the five main olive varieties (Minuta, Ottobratica, Calabrese, Ogliarola, Baddarica) cultivated in Sicily (southern Italy), from four main olive varieties (DolceAgogia, Moraiolo, Leccino, Frantoio) cultivated in Umbria (central Italy), and from three main olive varieties (Leccino, Oliva Nera di Collecorto, Noccioluta) cultivated in Molise (central Italy). Reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography using a C-30 column with photodiode array detection was used for pigments analyses. In all, 19 compounds were identified and quantified in 60 olive oils samples. The qualitative pigments pattern was similar among the varieties investigated, whereas quantitative differences were found among the different cultivars; among the varieties investigated in this work, the oils from Umbria showed the highest pigment content (34.19 ppm in average), followed by the oils from Molise (18.61 ppm in average) and the oils from Sicily which showed the lowest pigment contents (13.38 ppm in average). In general, pheophytin a was the major component (range 0.49–19.42 ppm), followed by β-carotene (range 1.27–9.30 ppm) and lutein (range 0.44–5.12 ppm). Those differences may be due to genetic factors and/or geographical differences. Moreover, auroxanthin was detected for the first time in olive oils and was detected only in olive oils from Umbria and Molise regions. The ratio between the two isochromic pigment fractions, namely the ratio between the chlorophyll and carotenoid fractions showed an average value close to unity. The lutein/β-carotene ratio was less than one in the majority of the cases. These parameters, along with other analytical parameters, could be used as indicators of typicality in olive oils. The presence of a specific pigment profile in olive oils could infact be used to guarantee the genuineness of the product, since the quality control of food requires a precise knowledge of the pigments composition of the original products.     

Influence of air temperature on drying kinetics and antioxidant potential of olive pomace

This work aims to evaluate the influence of olive pomace drying (a solid by-product of the olive oil industry) on both antioxidant potential and drying kinetics. The two main fractions of olive pomace (pits, PI and pulps + peels, P + P) were characterized by image analysis and density measurement. The drying process was analyzed in experiments carried out at different temperatures (from 50 to 150 °C) and mathematically described from the diffusion and Weibull models. The antioxidant potential of the extracts (ethanol–water 80:20 v/v, 22 ± 1 °C, 170 rpm for 24 h) obtained from the dry product was analyzed by measuring the total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity and the main polyphenols were quantified by HPLC–DAD/MS–MS.     

The tocopherol content of greek olive oils

Four types of Greek olive oil were analysed for α-and γ-tocopherols by high performance liquid chromatography. Certain seed oils widely consumed in Greece were also analysed for comparison with the olive oils. Virgin, pure, residual and refined oils contained an average of 113,81,156 and 37 mg kg^?1 of α-tocopherol, respectively. The α-tocopherol level within each type of olive oil appeared to be influenced by different factors. The content of y-tocopherol averaged 17 and 33 mg kg^?1of virgin and residual oil, respectively. Refined and pure olive oil contained very low levels of y-tocopherol. The α-tocopherol equivalent per gram of polyunsaturated fatty acids was calculated to be 1·48, 0·60, 0·88, 1·07 and 0·58 for edible olive oils, corn, cottonseed, sunflower and partially hydrogenated soya bean oil, respectively.     

HPLC determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in olive oils

 In this paper, HPLC with spectrofluorimetric detection was applied to the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in olive oils. These compounds may sometimes contaminate vegetable oils because of their specific lipophilic characteristics, which are a significant problem for their extraction and purification from lipid matrices. Some improvements to previously published methods are introduced and satisfactory results for repeatability and recovery were obtained. Data on 51 authentic olive oil samples are reported and it was found that there is usually a limited presence of PAHs in extra virgin olive oils; furthermore, the analysis of some blends of refined and virgin oils shows that the distributions of light and heavy PAHs are different with the content of the former being lower in refined samples. As an example of this fact, two samples of lampante oil were followed throughout the refining step. Received: 23 September 1996 / Revised version: 17 December 1996     

不同等级橄榄油中挥发性特征成分的研究

利用顶空-固相微萃取-气相色谱-质谱联用(HS-SPME-GC/MS)法,对不同等级橄榄油中的挥发性成分进行了系统研究.通过大量检测和比对,从色谱图上分辨出两种保留时间分别为15.71 min和19.98 min的特征成分,其含量与橄榄油等级密切相关.该研究工作首次确定了两种能反映橄榄油等级的挥发性特征成分,为开发全新的橄榄油等级鉴别方法奠定了理论基础.