Effects of Ultrasound Technology on the Qualitative Properties of Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Abstract

The development of innovative technologies in the mechanical extraction process of extra virgin olive oil can improve its quality standards through the modulation of physical, chemical and biochemical processes. Extra virgin olive oil quality and varietal differentiation are influenced by many factors, particularly the extraction. The use of ultrasound technology in the extraction process does not affect the quality, the composition, and the thermal properties of the oil, facilitating its separation from solids, and it allows the release of active compounds from the olive paste, with a positive influence on the phenolic content. In this study, the impact of ultrasound technologies was evaluated on merceological parameters, quality profile, and organoleptic features of extra virgin olive oils extracted from whole and destoned olives of the three main Italian cultivars (i.e., Peranzana, Canino, and Coratina). The parameters analyzed were influenced by both genotype and treatment, in particular, sonication did not lead to significant changes in the nutraceutical profile of the oils. The de-stoned olives were able to determine a great improvement of oil quality both for phenolic and volatile composition with a significant enhancement of health and sensory properties of the product.

The Use of a Cooling Crusher to Reduce the Temperature of Olive Paste and Improve EVOO Quality of Coratina, Peranzana, and Moresca Cultivars: Impact on Phenolic and Volatile Compounds

“…The concentrations of Coratina phenolic compounds, with values often very high (over 1000 mg/kg) and probably close to the upper limits of solubilization into the oily phase, confirmed the results of previous analysis (Veneziani et al, 2017), showing a moderate increase that was not statistically significant (Table 2). This trend was often demonstrated when new technologies were introduced in the mechanical extraction process and generated a general increase in the hydrophilic phenols of oils extracted from different cultivars that is usually more moderate in the oils genetically characterized by a high content of phenolic molecules, such as the Coratina cultivar (Leone et al, 2018b;Manganiello et al, 2021).…”

“…The final quality of EVOO is due to many factors, such as the genetic background, growing area, agronomic practices, cultivar, climatic conditions, and harvesting period of the olives (Caporaso, 2016). The improvement of EVOO quality is also influenced by mechanical extraction process and related technological parameters (Cecchi et al, 2019;Iqdiam et al, 2019;Kalogianni et al, 2019;Manganiello et al, 2021;Polari et al, 2019;Servili et al, 2015Servili et al, , 2019Tamborrino et al, 2021;Taticchi et al, 2019Taticchi et al, , 2021Veneziani et al, 2017). In particular, the study of new EVOO technologies is aimed at improving the content of phenolic compounds and the EVOO flavor improving the organoleptic and bioactive properties.…”

Influence of Malaxation Conditions on Phenolic Composition of Virgin Olive Oils: A Brief Review

“…Furthermore, several novel and emerging technologies have been developed and applied to satisfy the growing consumer demand for VOO with higher quality and healthrelated composition, such as microwaves [27,28], pulsed electric fields (PEF) [29][30][31][32][33][34][35], and ultrasound treatments [27,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47]. Moreover, these technologies have been studied for their capability to enhance VOO chemical-sensory quality, as well as its health-related composition.…”

Superior EVOO Quality Production: An RGB Sorting Machine for Olive Classification

“…Regarding minor components, their main representatives are phenolic compounds, for instancehydroxytyrosol and derivatives (oleuropein and tyrosol), tocopherols but also other compounds such as hydrocarbons (e.g., squalene) or pigments such as provitamin A compounds. It is interesting to underline that the concentrations of minor and major components in oil depend on the ripening process of olives, atmospheric and agricultural conditions, genetic control and extraction process [ 6 ]. For example, during the ripening process, as the content of oil inside the drupes increases, the photosynthetic activity decreases.…”