Using Nutritional Lipid and Sensorial Profiles for the Characterization of Turkish Olive (Memecik X Gemlik cv) Hybrids obtained from Controlled Crossbreeding

Abstract

AbstractOlive breeding is an important method for improving of olive oil quality. In the early 1990’s, a controlled cross breeding project was started on Turkish domestic olive cultivars by Bornova Olive Research Institute, Izmir. This study was carried out with a total of 11 hybrids and 2 parents and these oil samples were obtained from “Memecik” [5 samples (MG) + 1 parent (MEM)] and “Gemlik” [6 samples (GM) + 1 parent (GEM)] domestic olive cultivars grown under the same agronomic and pedoclimatic conditions. In this study, agronomic criteria (ripening index), some nutritional values (total phenolic contents, major fatty acids [palmitic, oleic, linoleic acid, linolenic acid] and their parameters (linoleic/linolenic ratio, quality index), and sensory properties (panel test) of olive (Memecik and Gemlik) hybrid oils were analyzed during 2005–2008 four harvest years. All results showed that 11 advanced domestic olive hybrids had different oil characteristics relative to the parents of hybrids based on nutritional and sensory profiles. The Pearson correlation coefficients and principal components factor loadings observed among chemical/sensory characteristics and fatty acid profile (GM 19, GM 39, MG 11, MG 5 and MG 123 promising hybrids) could be of interest in future olive breeding programs. Considering the main objectives of olive breeding project, the hybrids of GM 19 and MG 5 exhibited superior agronomic (maturation–regular yield), technological–nutritional (high total polyphenol content, balanced omega3/omega6 ratio), and sensorial (high pungent and bitter qualifications) features. The official registrations of these hybrids were carried out by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey.