Abstract
The volatile profile of fourteen commercial virgin olive oils (VOOs) produced by Tunisian and Italian olive cultivars from different geographical areas and collected from local markets and farms was evaluated by means of headspace-solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. All the samples were also analyzed by a group of fully trained assessors to define their olfactory attributes. The concentrations of volatile compounds as well as the nuances exhibited large variability among different kind of samples confirming that the typicality of VOOs in terms of both organoleptic and compositional characteristics greatly depends on both olive variety and quality. In particular, VOOs from Chetoui were found to exhibit both volatile profiles and sensory notes very similar to Italian samples. Data relative to the main volatile compounds were related to both positive and negative olfactory notes and sensory defects found in some oil samples were well confirmed by volatile marker presence. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Virgin olive oil flavor is strongly connected with the qualitative–quantitative composition of volatile compounds, which determine the whole of olfactory perceptions. This study, carried out on several commercial virgin olive oil samples from different cultivar and geographical origin of Tunisia and Italy revealed that the application of headspace-solid phase microextraction to the analysis of volatile compounds and their identification and quantification by gas chromatography coupled with quadrupolar mass-selective spectrometry can be of great interest not only for the comparison of flavor characteristics of oil samples but also for the evaluation of cultivar-environment influence on virgin olive oil aroma if associated to sensory evaluation performed by an experts' panel.
Published Version
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