Classification of Turkish Virgin Olive Oils Based on Their Phenolic Profiles

Abstract

Virgin olive oil is different from other plant oils with its high phenolic content. The resistance to oxidation and the protection against some diseases has been linked to these components of olive oil. The sensorial characteristic of extra virgin olive oil is also related to its phenolic compounds.In this work, it is aimed to determine the phenolic profiles of Turkish olive oils, which have high economic value for Turkey. Phenolic profiles of monovarietal extra virgin olive oil samples extracted from six dominant and economically important Turkish olive cultivars (memecik, erkence, domat, nizip-yaglik, gemlik, ayvalik) and commercial extra virgin olive oil samples from two different areas (south and north) of the Aegean coast were determined for 2005 and 2006 harvest years. Total phenol contents, oxidative stabilities and chromatic ordinates as colour parameters were also measured. The effect of cultivar, geographical area and harvest year on phenolic profiles of olive oils was investigated. Multivariate data were subjected to principal component and partial least square-discriminant analyses.Typical phenolic substances of extra virgin olive oils from different variety and regions are; p-coumaric acid, cinnamic acid & apigenin for memecik, erkence oils and also for oils of south Aegean; vanillin & syringic acid for ayvalik, gemlik and also for oils of north Aegean. Domat oils were characterized by their relatively high content of oleuropein aglycon. Nizip oils were separated by their 4-hydroxyphenyl acetic acid content, which was determined in very low amounts or none in other olive oils. It was observed that harvest year strongly affected the phenolic profiles of olive oils. In addition, phenolic composition was found to be useful in discriminating the olive oils from different variety and geographical area.