Abstract
The olive oil quality, nutritional and sensorial characteristics are associated with the chemical composition, which is the result of a complex interaction between several environmental, agronomical and technological factors. The aim of the present study is to investigate the impact of the geographical origin, harvesting time and processing system on the chemical composition and sensorial characteristics of olive oils produced from the Lebanese olive ‘Baladi’. Samples (n = 108) were collected from North and South Lebanon, at three different harvesting times and from four processing systems. Results showed a strong effect of origin, processing system and harvest time on oil quality, fatty acid composition, total phenols and OSI. The early harvest showed higher total phenols content (220.02 mg GAE/Kg) and higher OSI (9.19 h). Moreover, samples obtained from sinolea and 3-phases recorded the lowest free acidity (0.36% and 0.64%), and the highest OSI (9.87 and 9.84 h). Consumers were not unanimous regarding the studied factors, although samples recording high ranks were mostly from South using sinolea, 3-phases and press systems at early and intermediate harvest. The overall findings suggest that the selection of the harvesting time and of the processing system could have significant influence on the characteristics of the olive oil.
Highlights
Olive oil is the most commonly consumed vegetable oil in the Mediterranean area owing to its sensorial quality and beneficial health effects [1,2,3]
These results are in agreement with those obtained by El Riachy et al [35] in a study on 3 varieties (‘Arbequina’, ‘Picual’ and ‘Frontoio’) and 12 of their segregating populations; where the ripening index (RI) was correlated with the harvesting time, the evolution of ripening was different between varieties
This study reported, for the first time, the results of the complex interaction between the geographical origin, harvesting time and processing system on the olive oil chemical and sensorial characteristics
Summary
Olive oil is the most commonly consumed vegetable oil in the Mediterranean area owing to its sensorial quality and beneficial health effects [1,2,3]. The fatty acid composition varies during ripening where palmitic acid (C16:0) decreases, linoleic acid (C18:2) increases and oleic acid (C18:1) remains constant This results in a decrease in monounsaturated (MUFA) to polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and saturated to unsaturated fatty acid ratio, leading to lower oil oxidative stability and loss of oil quality in general [12,13]. The selection of the processing systems could have a significant effect on the oil oxidation due to the exposure to air oxygen in the press and sinolea systems and the use of mats in the press system These inconveniences in the aforementioned systems were completely overcome in the modern systems including the 2- and 3-phases [14,15]. The 3-phases system might result in a decrease in the phenolic and aromatic compounds leading to lower oxidative stability due to the use of water that could dissolve the hydrophilic phenols that will be removed with the olive mill waste water [16]
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