Composition Analysis of Arbequina Olive Oil From Argentina

CECI, L. N.; MELGAREJO, M; CARELLI , A.A.

Sydney, Australia

Conferencia; World Congress on Oils and Fats 28th ISF Congress; 2009

IFT

Argentina has greatly increased the olive oil production (2007/2008 = 25,000 ton). An increase of about 200 % in export sale volume was registered from 1999 to 2008 with the maximum historical value in 2008 (18,000 ton). Argentina has large monovarietal-implanted areas and can potentially be a world centre to produce oils from out-of-origin zone varieties, especially Arbequina from Cataluña. There are no precedents on the performance of Mediterranean varietals in Argentina and their adjustment to international normative. Twenty-five samples of extra-virgin olive oils from Arbequina corresponding to 2004-2008 harvests from different regions of Argentina were evaluated. Chemical compositional data, between them fatty acids, sterols, erytrodiol-uvaol and waxes, were compared with international purity criteria. Some oils from intra-continental hot regions (La Rioja, Catamarca and Córdoba) principally presented low oleic acid content (40.57-54.34 %) and/or high contents of the palmitic (20.05-23.79 %), palmitoleic (3.58-5.25 %) and linoleic (21.15-26.55 %) acids. Atlantic littoral oil samples did not show these deviations. They had oleic/linoleic ratios (6.0-6.81) higher than those from intra-continental regions (1.53-4.54), accompanied by higher polyphenol contents and oxidative stability. All the samples fulfilled the normative for total sterols and erythrodiol-uvaol. Oils from the Atlantic littoral and Mendoza province had sterol composition and apparent sitosterol percentages adjusted to the normative. In contrast, some samples from hot regions presented campesterol percentage higher than 4.0 (4.05-5.50 %), and in some cases, along with apparent sitosterol lower than 93.0 % (91.75-92.89%). With respect to C40-C46 wax contents, they were within the legal limit (<250 mg/kg) in the samples from Mendoza, San Juan and the Atlantic littoral. However, some oils from hot regions presented wax contents (294-646 mg/kg) beyond the limit. Only the partially soluble waxes (C40-C42) underwent a significant increase with the total wax content, causing evidently the high wax content in the oils outside wax legal limit. In conclusion, Arbequina evidences an excellent performance in the Atlantic littoral and some traditional productive provinces. But, its oil presents some compositional data that do not satisfy international parameters in intra-continental provinces characterized by high temperatures, low thermal amplitudes and low rain levels. Key words: Arbequina, olive oil, fatty acids, sterols, waxes