Pre-and post-harvest factors and their impact on oil composition and quality of olive fruit

Abstract

Olive fruit and its oil are in great demand due to its nutritional value, which can be influenced by the pre-and post-harvest factors. The pre-and post-harvest factors are discussed in this article in an effort to recognize as being and investigate the ultimate effect of these factors on the olive fruit and its oil composition. Genetic, agronomic and environmental factors influence olive fruits and olive oil composition. The olive cultivar influences fruit weight, olive oil content, fatty acids, peroxide value, esters, volatile compounds and fatty alcohol content. Chlorophyll content, carotenoids, flavor and volatile compounds vary depending upon geographical area of origin. Environmental conditions have an effect on enzymes, oil composition, fatty acids, microbial activity, esters, flowering, growth and development, ripening rate, insect activity and susceptibility or resistance to diseases. Tree age has an impact on phenol content of olive oil. The boron, nitrogen, potassium, salinity and zinc treatments have an influence on the olive fruit and its oil composition. In addition, the ripening degree, harvesting time has enforcement on olive oil content. Leaf removal and washing of the fruit promote the purity of the olive oil for both chemical and sensorial aspects. A not prolonged fruit crushing together with a not prolonged paste malaxation at a temperature below 27 °C increase the sensory and physicochemical qualities of olive oil. Inappropriate oil extraction promotes the off-flavors in the olive oil. Dark storage helps to retain the chemical and sensorial olive oil quality. The oil quality degrades toward the inside of cooking temperature.

Comparative Study of Volatile Compounds and Sensory Characteristics of Dalmatian Monovarietal Virgin Olive Oils

“…Olive (Olea europaea L.) cultivars present a high variability for VOO volatile compounds and, similarly, of the aroma quality. This natural variation of aroma profiling is a result of the high olive genetic diversity [25][26][27], but also it depends on other factors such is fruit ripening degree [24,28,29], irrigation regime in the orchard [30], fruit processing conditions during oil extraction [31,32], and correct olive oil storage practice [33][34][35][36]. Different pre-and postharvest factors influence the olive oil composition and quality of olive fruit [37].…”

“…Prolonged olive fruit storage between harvest and processing has a negative effect on the produced olive oil because of the possible hydrolyses of triglycerides to free fatty acids by lipase action. For this reason, it is advisable to process olive fruits as soon as possible (within 24 h after harvesting) [36]. The olive technology process has a strong influence on the overall quality of the obtained olive oil.…”

The socio-economic impacts of organic and conventional olive growing in Italy

“…In Mediterranean regions, olive growing is the principal responsible for the maintenance of rural economies: in 2010, it represented the 56% of Italian farms and the 76% of land used for permanent crops (ISTAT, 2012), as showed in Supplemental Material 1. However, many difficulties can affect the sector's socio-economic performance, which may depend on the planting system (traditional or intensive), the productivity, the level of mechanization, the investments, and the management costs (Ber-nardi et al, 2016(Ber-nardi et al, , 2018Strano et al, 2014;Mele et al, 2018).…”

Chemical and Sensory Characterization of Nine Spanish Monovarietal Olive Oils: An Emphasis on Wax Esters

“…Moreover, when oil is extracted in an organic solvent such as n-hexane, wax esters contained in the olive paste are transferred in high quantities to the product [12], and hence, wax ester contents will be higher in crude pomace olive oil than in virgin olive oils. Additional pre-and post-harvest factors that may impact wax concentration in olive oil include maturity stage of the fruit, environmental conditions, harvesting period or centrifuge procedures during oil extraction [13]. The amount of waxes in olive oil will also depend on olive fruit integrity and will be higher in oil obtained from soft and degrading fruit tissues [14].…”