Genetic Characterization of Centennial Olive Trees From Northern Chile: The Case of Extra Virgin Olive Oil From Huasco in the Process of Designation of Origin

Abstract

The olive variety called Sevillana de Azapa and Sevillana del Huasco was introduced in northern Chile more than 350 years ago by the Spaniards. These olive trees are evidence of an important historical production of olives in the Valleys of Azapa and Huasco. However, the genetic differences of this variety in populations of each valley and between olive trees commonly cultivated in Chile are still unknown. In order to obtain Denomination of Origin (DO) certification for the olive products made from this variety, a more accurate quality control method is required to properly distinguish raw material. Based on the use of ISSR and RAPD markers, the results of this study showed that Sevillana has a high genetic variation within each valley, but also a very low diversity between valleys. The high genetic variation within the population suggests that the individuals originated from vegetative parts of different mother plants, or were propagated by seeds. On the other hand, the populations of centennial trees of the Huasco and Azapa valleys are genetically distinct from the most important olive varieties marketed in the rest of Chile. It can be concluded the ISSR and RAPD markers can be used to characterize the raw material of Huasco olive oil with DO so as to differentiate this oil from other varieties established in the rest of the country.

Industrial oilseed crops in Chile: Current situation and future potential

“…The former is utilized for feed production in the salmon industry, whereas the latter is produced for certified seed production meant for exportation 12 . On the other hand, olive is used to produce edible oil from fruits, and is partly utilized as a table fruit, 13 whereas avocado is consumed as a fruit 14 . Data on soybean, peanut, and safflower production and usage are scarce; even according to ODEPA 10 these species were grown on less than 786 ha in the 2020/2021 season.…”

AN EFFICIENT PROTOCOL TO PERFORM GENETIC TRACEABILITY OF TISSUE AND FOODS FROM Geoffroea decorticans

“…Among the possible molecular techniques are Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RApd) (Williams et al, 1990;Contreras et al, 2018a) and Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (iSSR) (zietkiewicz et al, 1994;Contreras et al, 2018b), which are commonly used for genetic studies. SSR markers have also been employed in a variety of cross identifications, and proven to be very effective for the authentication of food components, both from animal and plant species (Scarano and Rao, 2014).…”