HEALTH PROMOTING AND SENSORY PROPERTIES OF CROATIAN MONOVARIETAL VIRGIN OLIVE OILS

As a typical component of the Mediterranean diet, virgin olive oil is consumed unrefined and it is rich in important molecules, such as minor polar compounds (hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, secoiridoids and flavonoids) and fatty acids. These molecules not only influence the sensorial properties of both olives and virgin olive oil but they are also important markers for typicity, biodiversity and quality determination of this product. The aim of this study was to evaluate the minor polar compound and fatty acid contents of monocultivar virgin olive oils, typical in Dalmatia olive region, in order to have better knowledge about the quali-quantitative profiles of these compounds in samples obtained from both the same collecting season and same processing technique. Quali-quantitative analysis (performed by HPLC/DAD and GC) could be a useful tool to better correlate the typicity of the virgin olive oil with its minor polar compound and fatty acid pattern. The results showed that within the germplasm studied a great variation was present both in fatty acid and phenols composition related to genetic origin. The sensorial assessment was also performed on the investigated olive oil samples in order to define their sensorial profiles regarding cultivar. Further studies are in progress to isolate the specific aroma compounds in order to investigate their impact to biological, nutritive and sensorial properties of these oils.