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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Crop and Product Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1457518
This article is part of the Research Topic Olive Science View all 16 articles

Development of a rapid and fruit-saving method for fatty acid composition analysis in olive: a comparative study on 27 cultivars

Provisionally accepted
Marianna Rizzo Marianna Rizzo Gianluca Godino Gianluca Godino ENZO PERRI ENZO PERRI Samanta Zelasco Samanta Zelasco Luca Lombardo Luca Lombardo *
  • Research Center for Citrus Fruit and Mediterranean Crops, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Rende (CS), Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Fatty acid composition is an essential aspect of the qualitative assessment of olive oil. A method for evaluating and trending fatty acid composition of olive varieties directly from a limited amount of drupes, has been proven reliable in comparison with traditional oil analysis. No significant difference was detected between the two methods for the 27 cultivars tested, despite presenting decidedly different acid compositions.The results obtained, crossed with those of oil yield, can represent a useful resource to set the harvest calendars by choosing the most suitable time for the production of superior quality oils and for reducing the risk of pathogen infections or pest attack. For three cultivars, the acid composition was evaluated during three ripening phases (green, veraisoned and veraisoned to black). The different behaviors suggest it is the genotype that determines this -still little known-physiological trait in olive.An interesting finding was that the oils from drupes harvested in August showed linolenic acid values higher than the limit (1.00%) set in the international standards for the classification of olive oils, requesting further investigation.

    Keywords: Fatty Acids, Olea europaea L., olive oil, Olive paste, oleic acid trend, new method

    Received: 30 Jun 2024; Accepted: 13 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rizzo, Godino, PERRI, Zelasco and Lombardo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Luca Lombardo, Research Center for Citrus Fruit and Mediterranean Crops, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Rende (CS), 95024, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.