Abstract
An analysis is presented of the response of olive oil production and quality parameters, viz. fatty acids (palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids), phenolic compounds and oxidative stability to hedgerow spacing and orientation in 1-m wide super-high-density orchards of cv. Arbequina. Data reveal strong linear relationships between concentrations of fatty acids and internal irradiance within hedgerows, positive for palmitic and linoleic but negative for oleic acid. The result is a significant vertical trend in oil composition within hedgerows, but small to negligible differences in oil harvested from them in totality. The explanation is found in the small ranges and strongly correlated responses of individual fatty acids that together comprise 98% of oil mass. Phenolic compounds respond more widely and to higher levels of irradiance than fatty acids and did show increases in NS hedgerows grown at wide row spacing. Oxidative stability shows a similar trend in phenolic compounds. A simulation study that extended the known responses to 2-m wide hedgerows showed that the linkage between fatty acid profiles was maintained with no resultant differences in the oil composition of the total simulated oil harvest. Based on the current understanding of internal irradiance within olive hedgerows, there seems to be little opportunity to manage oil quality by orchard structure.
Highlights
Irradiance is not a factor limiting fruit formation or yield, but it did become so in the first super-high density (SHD) hedgerow orchards that were established in the mid-90s with inter- and intra-row spacings of 3–4 m and 1.5–2 m, respectively [2]
The results indicate that fruits more exposed to sunlight mature more quickly with greater oil content and different fatty acid and phenolic composition, with resultant greater oxidative stability
Despite the existence of clear vertical profiles of oil quality parameters that can be explained in terms of irradiance, harvests of entire hedgerows produce oil of relatively constant fatty acid content across a range of row spacing and orientation
Summary
Olive plantations were established with wide spacing (>7 m) and trees were trained to open-vase shapes with low canopy density, because most were grown in low rainfall areas under dryland conditions [1] In these olive orchards, irradiance is not a factor limiting fruit formation or yield, but it did become so in the first super-high density (SHD) hedgerow orchards that were established in the mid-90s with inter- and intra-row spacings of 3–4 m and 1.5–2 m, respectively [2]. Irradiance is not a factor limiting fruit formation or yield, but it did become so in the first super-high density (SHD) hedgerow orchards that were established in the mid-90s with inter- and intra-row spacings of 3–4 m and 1.5–2 m, respectively [2] This type of orchard was designed to be irrigated and harvested with modified grape machines requiring that hedgerows should be maintained below 2.8 m height and around 1 m width. Oil quality responses to hedgerow design and canopy environment have been scarcely studied despite greater demand for olive oil, as the premier vegetable oil, for components with nutritional, therapeutic and organoleptic properties [4]
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