Storage of olive oil

Anastasia Mitrusi

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

For more than 6000 years, the virgin olive oil has been essential for population living alongside Mediterranean basin. Nowadays, the olive oil is expanded and appreciated worldwide. In this literature review, the olive tree, whose fruits are cultivated for olive oil, is characterized. Secondly, the harvest and the processing of olive oil are described. Subsequently, the classification of olive oil is delineated by its quality. Further, the nutritional parameters of virgin olive oil and its health effects are mentioned together with the organoleptic properties of the oil. The aim of this thesis was to summarize the data from literature on the changes of quality parameters (free fatty acidity, peroxide value and UV absorbance for K232 and K270) in different storage conditions. According to available data, the documented storage conditions and their effect on selected quality parameters of virgin olive oil were summarized and compared with standard prescribed in the Regulation of European Commission. All monitored parameters have been increasing during the storage period. Some of them overstep EU standards and their excesses depend on the light, time of the storage, packaging and the temperature. The degradation of virgin olive oil can be retarded by keeping the temperature lower than the room temperature is. The quality of olive oil can be extended by not exposing it to light, high temperatures and by keeping the headspace in the bottle as reduced as possible. Surprisingly, packaging material did not show as strong effect on the quality parameters as temperature and light; nevertheless, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is the least suitable and Tetra-Brik® seems to be an optimal packaging material for virgin olive oil.

Keywords

shelf-life, Olea europaea, stability, degradation

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 19. 4. 2019

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Olga Leuner, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Bachelor programme / field:
Agricultural Specialization / Agriculture in Tropics and Subtropics