Unexplored olive cultivars from the Valencian Community (Spain): some chemical characteristics as a valorization strategy

[EN] The olive processing industry has till date been dominated by a small group of cultivars, leading to the possibility of some olive cultivars becoming extinct in the near future. In this study, we determined the composition of some chemical components in the olive oils from 31 minor olive cultivars of the Valencian Community. Our main aim was to identify suitable cultivars, which could produce differentiated olive oils, thus aiming towards their valorization. The average oil content of minor olive cultivars was found to be good, with some of them reporting approximately 60% (dry basis). On average, the total phenolic content was 229mg kg(-1), with cv. Mas Blanc reporting the highest content (570mg kg(-1)). Among the various tocopherols found in olives, -tocopherol was the main constituent, with a maximum concentration of 290.6mg kg(-1). Linoleic acid was the main polyunsaturated fatty acid and varied between 3.4% (cv. Del Pomet) and 16.9% (cv. Blanqueta Enguera). Special attention needs to be paid to the composition of sterols, since some olive oils exceeded the limits established for some sterols by the current European legislation. Some of the cultivars studied were highly productive, and originated differentiated olive oils with a rich composition of antioxidants and essential fatty acids. In some cases, these beneficial compounds were higher than those of commercial oils obtained from the most common cultivars worldwide. These results could contribute to the commercial exploitation of some of the studied cultivars.Salazar-García, DC.; Malheiro, R.; Pereira, JA.; López- Cortés, I. (2019). Unexplored olive cultivars from the Valencian Community (Spain): some chemical characteristics as a valorization strategy. 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Monitoring of the fatty acid compositions of some olive oils

The major fatty acids of olive oils were oleic, palmitic and linoleic acids. Oleic acid is the main monounsaturated fatty acid (from 60.81%; Ayvalık cv to 68.98%; Sarıulak cv). Linolenic acid (from 0.70%; Gemlik cv to 0.90%; Uslu cv) was found to be the lowest in all the variety of oils; while-palmitoleic acid and oleic acid contents in the oil samples changed between 0.93% to 1.05% and between 60.81% to 68.98% respectively. Omega-6 contents of olive oils were found ranging 94.42 μg/mg to 161.63 μg/mg. Omega-3 contents were found at low levels (8.05 μg/mg to 9.60 μg/mg). According to statistical analysis, fatty acid compositional differences among the oils studied were significant, indicating a varietal effect on olive oil quality