Abstract
Commercially available green table olives of the Nocellara del Belice cultivar were processed in 26 companies. Three different processing conditions were used to obtain olive debittering: natural fermentation, “Castelvetrano” (a typical west Sicilian method) and cracked olives. The green olives packed into 200-500 mL glass jars were analyzed for physico-chemical characteristics that revealed statistical differences among the three debittering methods and a great difference among the samples, reflecting a low level of standardization achieved in these fermented products. The results showed an influence of the treatments on all physico-chemical parameters with the exception of total polyphenol content and lightness (L*) for which no significant differences were found. The average pH in the brine samples was under the hygienic limit of 4.5 with the exception of Castelvetrano olives which showed a higher pH values. The salt concentration of the brine samples appeared lower than the commercial limit according to the table olive trade standards. The brine samples were also analyzed for some microbiological parameters. Not all the samples showed acceptable commercial standards, because Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus and coliform bacteria were detected in a few samples.
Highlights
The olive fruit has a bitter component and low sugar content (2.6-6.0%) compared with other drupes along with a high oil content (12-30%) which depends on the growth and variety
The number of samples was 99 of the same cultivar, Nocellara del Belice, which were separated according to the preparation method: 23 samples for natural fermentation (NF), 50 for “Castevetrano” system (CS) and 26 for cracked olives (CO)
The results suggest that there are great differences among the samples for the same kind of treatment and company
Summary
The olive fruit has a bitter component and low sugar content (2.6-6.0%) compared with other drupes along with a high oil content (12-30%) which depends on the growth and variety. The main purpose of processing is, the removal of fruit bitterness by hydrolysis of the glycosidic phenols, especially oleuropein (Aponte et al, 2010). By β-glucosidase, is well established in the literature for both bacteria and fungi (Ciafardini et al, 1994; Ciafardini and Zullo, 2000). This kind of enzymatic activity is important in olive production when deriving from lactic acid bacteria, while fungal growth may negatively affect both the nutritive and aesthetic value of the product with the presence of mycelium on the surface and mycotoxin production (Panagou, 2006)
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