Version 1
: Received: 1 December 2023 / Approved: 4 December 2023 / Online: 4 December 2023 (10:29:08 CET)
How to cite:
Dag, A.; Tietel, Z.; Zipori, I. Factors Affecting Olive Oil Quality in Traditional Olive Orchards in the Middle East. Preprints2023, 2023120182. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.0182.v1
Dag, A.; Tietel, Z.; Zipori, I. Factors Affecting Olive Oil Quality in Traditional Olive Orchards in the Middle East. Preprints 2023, 2023120182. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.0182.v1
Dag, A.; Tietel, Z.; Zipori, I. Factors Affecting Olive Oil Quality in Traditional Olive Orchards in the Middle East. Preprints2023, 2023120182. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.0182.v1
APA Style
Dag, A., Tietel, Z., & Zipori, I. (2023). Factors Affecting Olive Oil Quality in Traditional Olive Orchards in the Middle East. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.0182.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Dag, A., Zipora Tietel and Isaac Zipori. 2023 "Factors Affecting Olive Oil Quality in Traditional Olive Orchards in the Middle East" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.0182.v1
Abstract
Traditional olive orchards have been grown for thousands of years and still occupy most of the world’s olive cultivation area. To compete with olive oil produced in the higher-yielding intensive orchards, the oil from traditional orchards must be of high quality. We evaluated oil quali-ty—potential and actual (under commercial conditions)—and identified the stages in the pro-duction chain that reduce oil quality in the traditional sector in the Middle East region. Our findings show a clear negative impact of growers' traditional practices on both chemical and sensorial characteristics of the olive oil. The oil originating from the commercial process had higher free fatty acid and lower polyphenol and carotenoid contents, lower stability, lower pungency, fruitiness and bitterness, and a higher prevalence of organoleptic defects than oil originating from fruit picked from the same trees in the experimental procedure. The current, commonly harvesting technique of pole beating significantly increased fruit injury and fruit with mold, leading to a reduction in oil polyphenols and an increase in free fatty acid level compared to manual picking. After harvest, storing the fruit for more than 48 h in plastic bags reduced oil quality dramatically. The traditional olive orchard could potentially be a source of high-quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil. However, handling of the fruit—from the trees until the end of the oil-extraction process—is done incorrectly, adversely affecting oil quality.
Keywords
harvesting; oil quality; olive; traditional cultivation
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Agricultural Science and Agronomy
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
