Quality aspects of European virgin olive oils with registered geographical indications: Emphasis on nutrient and non-nutrient bioactives

European virgin olive oil with geographical indications are strictly regulated and are of importance for the producing member states, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, France, Slovenia and Croatia. These products are consumed locally, or within the European Union but are also exported worldwide. The chapter stresses on the importance of combining origin indications with other certifications or opportunities raising from European legislation in the agri-food sector so that to tighten consumer loyalty for this category of products. Emphasis is given to the richness of virgin olive oil in bioactive compounds that are already covered by nutritional and health claims (oleic acid, vitamin E, "polyphenols") and to those compounds that can be exploited in the future toward the same direction (squalene, oleanolic and maslinic acids).

Fatty acid composition and δ13 C of bulk and individual fatty acids as marker for authenticating Italian PDO/PGI extra virgin olive oils by means of isotopic ratio mass spectrometry

European Regulation (EEC) 2568/91 has been setting the minimum requirements in order to allow labeling of oil as extra virgin. These general requirements, are based on physical-chemical and organoleptic parameters directly linked to the freshness and quality of the product. Isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) was demonstrated to be a useful tool for the discrimination of the origin of unknown samples, because the obtained data are practically independent of the cultivar employed and the production technique. In this work, the evaluation of the composition of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) alongside with the determination of stable isotope ratio of C in bulk oils and in main FAME constituents have been investigated as a tool to improve geographical discrimination of Italian Protected Designation of Origin/Protected Geographical Indication (PDO/PGI) samples. For this purpose, authentic PDO/PGI extra virgin olive oils were sampled at oil mills and grouped into different sets according to their areas of provenience. The use of principal component analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis multivariate analysis techniques demonstrated that discrimination of olive oil samples can be done using geographical and pedoclimatic parameters predominantly by using δ(13) C results of bulk and individual fatty acids. Results showed that δ(13) C values are a more reliable marker of origin with respect to fatty acid composition.