Fatty acid profiles of varietal virgin olive oils (<i>Olea europaea</i> L.) from mature orchards in warm arid valleys of Northwestern Argentina (La Rioja)

Abstract

grown in NW Argentina versus the Mediterranean. For Arbequina, the oleic content decreased with increasing temperature during oil accumulation (22% per °C). The classification of varieties should be useful in the selection of virgin olive oils for corrective blending and for choosing varieties for new orchards in order to meet IOOC requirements. The differences in fatty acid composition between NW Argentina and the Mediterranean Basin are most likely to be related to a genotype x environment interaction, and the negative effect of the high seasonal mean temperature during oil accumulation will need further research. KEY-WORDS: Oil quality -Oleic acid -Temperature -Virgin olive oil -Warm arid environment. INTRODUCTIONIn the last two decades, olive production has increased dramatically in Argentina due to governmental tax promotions spurred by the increased international demand for olive oil. New orchards have been planted in the warm desert valleys of mountainous Northwestern Argentina including the Provinces of La Rioja, Catamarca, and San Juan (28 -31° S latitude). This extensive region covers about 25,000 km 2 and has a great deal of environmental variability in temperature, rainfall, elevation above sea level, and soils (Ayerza and Sibbett, 2001). The climate is semi-arid to arid with higher temperatures (especially in the winter and spring) than in the Mediterranean Basin, and rainfall occurs predominately in the summer months with a pronounced dry season in the winter. The new olive industry mainly consists of large private growers and investors with intensive mono-varietal orchards including both table and oil varieties from Italy and Spain along with some production of the local Argentine variety Arauco (Matías et al., 2004). Domestic olive oil consumption is very low, and olive oil is mainly exported to Brazil, Canada, the United States, and some European countries (MAGPyA, 2010).The increase in olive production has been accompanied by a modernization of the industrial extraction facilities. Modern facilities have been installed with the primary aim of producing high quality virgin olive oils rather than refining or extracting oil with solvent from olive-pomace. The RESUMEN Perfiles de ácidos grasos de aceites de oliva virgen (Olea europaea L.) de huertos en plena producción en los valles cálidos áridos del noroeste de Argentina (La Rioja).La industria oleícola del noroeste de Argentina creció sustancialmente durante las últimas dos décadas para producir aceite de oliva virgen exportable. Para evaluar el perfil de ácidos grasos de los principales aceites varietales, se analizaron 563 muestras de aceite de 17 variedades en la provincia de La Rioja durante [2005][2006][2007][2008]. Las variedades se clasificaron de acuerdo a su contenido de ácido oleico en bajo (55%; Arbequina, Arauco), medio (55-65%; Barnea, Frantoio), o alto (65%; Manzanilla, Empeltre, Leccino, Coratina, Changlot, Picual). Utilizando datos de este trabajo y de la literatura, los aceites de variedades de origen español (Arbequina y Picu...

Chemical properties of virgin olive oil from Iranian cultivars grown in the Fadak and Gilvan regions

“…The Mari variety of Gilvan contains the significantly lowest linoleic acid content (P<0.05) among all other olive samples. Rondanini et al (2011) stated that there is a negative correlation between oleic acid and linoleic acid contents of olive oils which is in accordance with our findings. The ratio of oleic to linoleic acid was also in the range of 3.04% to 11.47% and the Mari variety of Gilvan showed the highest mean value.…”

“…The data indicated that the oleic acid content of each variety in Gilvan with a higher annual mean temperature is significantly (P<0.05) higher than that obtained from the Fadak region. This is in agreement with previous studies which also reported that the increase in environmental temperature leads to a decrease in the oleic acid content (Rondanini et al, 2011). High oleic acid content leads to an increase in oxidative stability and antihypertensive activity and LDL cholesterol lowering effects have been shown (Psaltopoulou et al, 2004).…”

Effect of different irrigation regimes on the quality attributes of monovarietal virgin olive oil from cv. “Cobrançosa”

“…"Frantoio", that was not observed, indicating that it is related to the different response of the cultivar to environmental conditions. In addition, Rondanini et al (2011) observed that the Spanish cultivar "Arbequina", when cultivated in warm arid valleys of Northwestern Argentina (La Rioja), produced a lower content of 18:1 acid in relation to the Mediterranean region. They founded a decrease with increasing temperature during oil accumulation of 2% per °C.…”

Comparative Study of Oil Quality and Aroma Profiles from Tunisian Olive Cultivars Growing in Saharian Oasis Using Chemometric Analysis

“…As a matter of fact, during the olive ripening there is a progressive activation of lipolytic activity and olives are more sensitive to pathogenic infections and mechanical damage, which results in oils with higher acidity values 25 . 26 that high temperature during the oil accumulation period in olive can be negatively correlated with oleic acid content at harvest. Experiments under controlled conditions would greatly contribute to our understanding of how oil quality is influenced by environmental factors.…”