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Background: 'Arauco' is the only autochthonous olive cultivar from Argentina. Little has been reported so far regarding the management of this crop. In this work, variations in fruit and chemical characteristics of olives harvested over a wide range of dates and seasons are reported for this cultivar at two sites in Mendoza province in central west Argentina., Results: During the harvest periods studied, fruit oil content on a dry basis remained at its maximum and was stable, but fruit oil content on fresh basis increased as water content decreased with delay in harvest date. Harvest date affected the maturity index of fruits as well as the oxidative stability and phenolic content of oil. In contrast, the fatty acid profile was not consistently affected by harvest date. Environmental conditions, mainly the occurrence and intensity of frosts, strongly influenced oil quality as well as maturity with delay in harvest date., Conclusion: The most appropriate harvest time to obtain Arauco oil with a high oil yield and good chemical quality was before mid-May and with maturity index lower than 2. Fruits harvested after mid-May were exposed to minimum temperatures between -1.2 °C and - 4.0 °C, producing oil with low phenolic compounds and oxidative stability. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: The influence of three irrigation treatments (T0, no stress; T1, soft stress; and, T2, moderate stress) on the key functional properties [fatty acids, sugar alcohols, organic acids, minerals, total polyphenols content (TPC), and antioxidant activity (AA)], sensory quality, and consumers' acceptance of table olives, cv. 'Manzanilla', was evaluated., Results: A soft water stress, T1, led to table olives with the highest oil and dry matter contents, with the highest intensities of key sensory attributes and slightly, although not significant, higher values of consumer satisfaction degree. Besides, RDI in general (T1 and T2) slightly increased green colour, the content of linoleic acid, but decreased the content of phytic acid and some minerals., Conclusion: The soft RDI conditions are a good option for the cultivation of olive trees because they are environmentally friendly and simultaneously maintain or even improve the functionality, sensory quality, and consumer acceptance of table olives. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: In olive oil, sterols constitute the majority of the unsaponifiable fraction. In recent years there has been increased interest in the sterols of olive oil for their health benefits and their importance to virgin olive oil (VOO) quality regulation., Results: Forty-three olive (Olea europaea L.) cultivars from the World Olive Germplasm Bank, IFAPA Centro 'Alameda de Obispo', Cordoba, Spain were studied for their oil sterol composition and total content. The main sterols found in olive oil were β-sitosterol, Δ(5) -avenasterol, campesterol and stigmasterol, most of them showing high variability. Most cultivars showed total sterol contents within the limits established by EU regulations, although 28% of VOOs analysed were outside the limits established for total content and/or for individual sterols. Over the group of cultivars, total sterol contents ranged from 855 to 2185 mg kg(-1) ., Conclusion: The high variability observed was due to the genetic component, since other agronomic and technological factors were similar. Because of the high variability, the sterol fraction can be considered as a useful tool to characterize and discriminate monovarietal VOOs. The results can be useful for nutritionists for VOO inclusion in nutrition studies. Furthermore, the variability observed can be applied in olive breeding projects to select the parents of new olive cultivars with an improved sterol fraction. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: Very little information is available on the characteristics of the Lebanese olive germplasm. Therefore, the aim of this work was to evaluate the fruit and oil characteristics of the main Lebanese olive varieties (Aayrouni, Abou chawkeh, Baladi, Del and Soury) from two successive crop seasons (2010-2011)., Results: All of the genotypes had medium-high oil content in the fruit, indicating their suitability for oil production; Aayrouni had particularly high values. The variety Abou chawkeh also had a high pulp/pit ratio, which is a very desirable trait in table olives. For all the varieties the values of free fatty acids, peroxide values, absorbances in ultraviolet, fatty acid composition, sterol content and composition and erythrodiol + uvaol content of the oils were within the requirements of the International Olive Council's Trade Standard for extra virgin olive oil. The only exception was for the values of Δ-7-stigmastenol in 2011 in Soury and, especially, in Baladi, which were higher than 0.5%. In some cases, stearic and arachidic acids fluctuated around the maximum values allowed., Conclusion: The findings of this study provide a first picture of the main characteristics of olives and oils currently produced in Lebanon. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: This study involved two commercial orchards located in Limarí Valley and Molina from two important Chilean production zones of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). The investigation evaluated the effects of climate, soil composition, agricultural practices (fertilization and irrigation) and variety (considering two harvests) on the compounds responsible for the flavor of EVOO (volatiles and phenols) and how these compounds can explain the differences in chemical profiles by geographical origin, cultivar and fruit ripeness stage., Results: Varieties from the Limarí Valley presented the highest content of phenolic compounds. A significant relationship (P < 0.05) between volatile compounds and climate indicated that the compounds produced via the lipoxygenase cascade were affected by the maximum temperature and, to a lesser extent, by evapo-transpiration and irrigation. The selection of different individual phenolic and volatile compounds independently allowed the significant differentiation of EVOOs, principally by geographical origin, crop season, fruit ripeness stage and, in a few cases, by cultivar., Conclusion: Soil and climate of the Chilean regions have much more influence than cultivars on the concentration of sensory quality compounds. Difference in latitude between orchards increases the importance of the geographical origin on the virgin olive oil chemical composition while full irrigation decreases the impact of the cultivar., (© 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: Super-intensive cultivation facilitates olive mechanized harvesting, allowing substantial savings in the production cost of virgin olive oil (VOO). However, the number of varieties adapted to this type of cultivation is small. This study explores the impact that harvesting with a grape straddle harvester of 'Manzanilla de Sevilla' and 'Manzanilla Cacereña' olives grown in super-intensive cultivation has on the physiology of the fruit and the quality of the oil subsequently extracted., Results: For both cultivars, fruits harvested mechanically showed higher respiration and ethylene production and lower firmness than fruits harvested by hand. Their oils exhibited lower phenol contents, lower oxidative stability and lower presence of positive sensory attributes. However, in these oils the values of parameters used to assess the level of quality of VOO remained within the limits required for the best commercial category., Conclusion: Mechanical harvesting of 'Manzanilla de Sevilla' and 'Manzanilla Cacereña' super-high-density hedgerows induced physiological alterations in the fruits and a reduction in the contents of natural antioxidants and flavour components in the oils, though it did not result in a loss of the 'Extra' level of quality., (© 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Background: A field experiment was conducted to test the reliability of the near infrared spectroscopy (NIR)-acousto-optically tunable filter (AOTF) method to measure mesocarp oil content in vivo against nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) determinations using three different olive cultivars at different stages of ripening., Results: In the partial least squares model carried out for the cultivar 'Arbequina', the coefficient of determination in calibration (R(2)c) was 0.991, while the coefficient of determination in cross-validation (R(2)cv) was 0.979. For the cultivar 'Frantoio' the indexes were 0.982 and 0.971, respectively; while for the cultivar 'Leccino' R(2)c was 0.977 and R(2)cv was 0.965. Finally, for the combined model (sum of the three varieties) these indexes were 0.921 and 0.903, respectively. The residual predictive deviation (RPD) ratio was insufficient for the predictive model of cultivar 'Leccino' only (1.98), whereas in the other cases the RPD ratios were completely sufficient, within the estimation range over 2.5-3 (2.61 in the global model, and 4.23 in the cultivar 'Frantoio'), or in describing a large capacity with values greater than 5, as in the cultivar 'Arbequina' (9.58)., Conclusion: NIR-AOTF spectroscopy proved to be a novel, rapid and reliable method to monitor the oil accumulation process in intact olive fruits in the field. The innovative approach of coupling NIR and NMR technologies opens up new scenarios for determining the optimal time for harvesting olive trees to obtain maximum oil production., (© 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.)