A statistical approach to the biosynthetic route of fatty acids in olive oil: cross-sectional and time series analyses

Abstract

A study of the biosynthetic route of the fatty acids in Greek virgin olive oil is presented. The investigation of the behaviour of the fatty acids is based on the statistical analysis of data of percentage composition in fatty acids of Greek olive oil during the ripening period of the olive. The existence of time series observations within several cross-sections provides the opportunity to assess the cross-sectional effects along the time series effects. The increased availability of cross-sectional information over time provides opportunities for a more complete statistical methodology in chemometrics. The methodology of pooling time series and cross-sectional data is proposed in this study. Pooling allows us to test the homogeneity hypothesis that the slopes and intercepts for the same variables are equal for different periods. It is demonstrated here that pooling is not appropriate and the results obtained are no better than separate time series or cross-sectional estimates. However, it is important that the method be introduced. The results obtained in this paper are useful in studying a synthesis of time series and cross-sectional effects for the fatty acids of olive oil.