UC Cooperative Extension sensory analysis panel enhances the quality of California olive oil

Abstract

D uring the California olive oil revival of the past two decades, a quiescent industry has come dramatically to life (see box, page 9). Acreage planted in oil olives is increasing rapidly. By fall 2010, an estimated 28,500 acres were growing in California, a doubling of acreage from 3 years prior.Interest in planting new orchards is still high, but the economic crisis has reduced the rate of oil-olive acreage growth. A few large producers make about 80% of the state's olive oil, but more than 90% of the farms are small scale with less than 20 acres. Production of premium olive oil in California is predicted to double in the next 3 years from 800,000 to 1.6 million gallons. Many of these oils are excellent, taking top awards in global competitions.But this was not always the case. The improvement in California's olive oil is due largely to the efforts of a scientifi cally selected and trained sensory evaluation panel. Only the most rudimentary quality testing on olive oil is currently being done by laboratory chemical analysis; a group of human beings following strict tasting protocols is now the standard tool for detecting, identifying and quantifying the many positive and negative attributes of olive oil.Although people have been making and using olive oil for thousands of years, the methodical sensory analysis of olive oil is a recent development. Its use in measuring quality was advanced signifi cantly in the early 1980s, when sensory researchers in Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal and France began working together with the International Olive Oil Council (now the International Olive Council or IOC) to develop the fi rst offi cial tasting methodology. Their work applied the principles of sensory science to olive oil. Sensory evaluation evokes, measures, analyzes and interprets the responses of tasters to the fl avors they perceive.Worldwide, sensory analysis has become a key part of how olive oils are rated for market grade, and it has been used to help growers and processors produce a higher-quality product. Since the late 1980s, many researchers have used sensory evaluation to characterize olive oil fl avors attributable to cultivar (variety), fruit maturity, terroir, irrigation, tree nutrition, pest damage, fruit handling and processing methods. Researchers have also taught sensory short courses and workshops for industry professionals and consumers about olive oil styles and quality. Uses of a sensory panelA trained sensory panel is an invaluable tool. It provides an objective sensory evaluation of olive oil that can be used by regulators to enforce label standards that protect consumers, producers and processors from fraud in the industry. IOC quality standards are used globally to determine whether an oil should be graded and marketed as "extra virgin" or "virgin," or refi ned and then sold as "olive oil" (see box, page 10). In order for an oil to be graded as "extra virgin," it must pass several UC Cooperative Extension sensory analysis panel enhances the quality of California olive oil California sensor...

The Effects of Variety, Growing Region, and Drought Stress on Fatty Acid and Sterol Compositions of California Olive Oil

“…This has aroused a particular interest of studying the impact of drought stress on the FA and sterol compositions of California olive oil. To ensure the data are representative, SHD varieties (Arbequina, Arbosana, and Koroneiki) from the Central Valley region were selected because of their larger sample size (93 samples in total) and dominant olive plantation acreage in California (Vossen, ). Data from only five harvest seasons (2010/11 harvest season and 2014/15 to 2017/18 harvest seasons) were included due to the lack of samples from the 2012/13 and 2013/14 harvest seasons.…”

The Major Qualitative Characteristics of Olive (Olea europaea L.) Cultivated in Southwest China

“…In this study, olive manifest a similar phenolic content and has a wide range of phenolics content between olive varieties (Table 2 ), such as the Coratina and Koroneiki have lower Phenolic content (<10 g/kg), while Frantoio and Barnea have higher Phenolic content (>14 g/kg) (Vinha et al, 2005 ; Cecchi et al, 2013 ). However, the change in phenolic content during fruit development was more rapid than in the Mediterranean region (Vossen, 1998 ). In Southwest China, phenolic content in olive fruit reaches a maximum from July to August (90–120 DAFB), but olive fruit in the Mediterranean region reaches a maximum from October to November (Figure 2E ).…”

Susceptibility of olive cultivars to olive fly (Bactrocera oleae) and parameters that play a role in olive fly (Bactrocera oleae) cultivar selection

“…In addition, microorganisms (Camarosporium dalmaticum) can develop in the area where the olive fly (Bactrocera oleae) lays eggs on fruits and in feeding tunnels [12] . Olive fly (Bactrocera oleae) gives 4-5 offspring per year depending on climatic conditions (Avidov and Harpaz, 1969; Vossen, Varela and Devarenne, 2006) [16,14] . Olive fly (Bactrocera oleae); at temperatures below 30 °C, they reach sexual maturity and reproduce, while temperatures above 30 °C and low humidity prevent the olive fly (Bactrocera oleae) from laying eggs and cause reproductive diapause (Álvarez and Moraga, 2007) [10] .…”