Abstract
Chétoui and Chemlali olive fruits were stored at two different temperatures (ambient and 5°C) for different periods before oil extraction at 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days to investigate the effect of postharvest fruit storage on olive oil quality. Conventional analyses (acidity, peroxide value, specific extinction coefficient at 232 and 270 nm and fatty acid composition) and non conventional analyses (pigments, total phenols, oxidative stability and radical scavenging capacity) were carried out in order to evaluate the oil quality. Results showed that fruit storage at ambient temperature led to the deterioration of the oil parameter qualities such as acidity, K232 and K270 which is more rapidly in Chemlali oils than that of Chétoui cultivar. In the same way, the trend of total phenols, oxidative stability and radical scavenging capacity of the studied olive oils showed a decrease during the fruit storage at ambient temperature. This reduction was more severe in Chemlali olive oils than those of Chétoui cultivar. Storage of fruits at 5°C prevented the fast alteration that is produced in oils extracted from fruits stored at ambient temperature. Key words: Olive storage, oil quality, fatty acids, stability.
Highlights
Virgin olive oil is a valuable vegetable oil extracted from fresh and healthy olive fruits (Olea europeae L.) by mechanical processes and without any preliminary refining (Garcia and Yousfi, 2006)
Chétoui and Chemlali olive fruits were stored at two different temperatures for different periods before oil extraction at 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days to investigate the effect of postharvest fruit storage on olive oil quality
The objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of temperatures and periods of olive storage on oil quality of the two main Tunisian cultivars, Chemlali and Chétoui
Summary
Virgin olive oil is a valuable vegetable oil extracted from fresh and healthy olive fruits (Olea europeae L.) by mechanical processes and without any preliminary refining (Garcia and Yousfi, 2006). It has an excellent nutritional, sensorial and functional qualities (Matos et al, 2007), and is a product of major economical importance. Due to its components been beneficial to human health and content of other functional food compounds, interest in olive oil as a healthy food source has increased outside the Mediterranean region (Bandelj et al, 2002; Ceci and Carelli, 2010).
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