Olive Oil Sensory Science

The olive oil market is increasingly international. Levels of consumption and production are growing, particularly in ?new? markets outside the Mediterranean region. New features of product optimization and development are emerging, and along with them new marketing strategies, which benefit from a clear understanding of the sensory aspects of foods, as well as adequate sensory techniques for testing them. Recently developed sensory
methods and approaches are particularly suitable for studying the sensory properties of olive oils and their function in culinary preparation or in oil-food pairing.

Each chapter of Olive Oil Sensory Science is written by the best researchers and industry professionals in the field throughout the world. The book is divided into two main sections. The first section details the appropriate sensory methods for olive oil optimization, product development, consumer testing and quality control. The intrinsic factors affecting olive oil quality perception are considered, as well as the nutritional, health and sensory properties, underlining the importance of sensory techniques in product differentiation. The agronomic and technological aspects of production that affect sensory properties and their occurrence in olive oil are also addressed. Sensory perception and other factors affecting consumer choice are discussed, as is the topic of olive oil sensory quality. The second part of this text highlights the major olive oil producing regions of the
world: Spain, Italy, Greece, California, Australia/New Zealand and South America. Each chapter is dedicated to a region, looking at the geographical and climactic characteristics pertinent to olive oil production, the major regional olive cultivars, the principle olive oil styles and their attendant sensory properties.

Olive Oil Sensory Science is an invaluable resource for olive oil scientists, product development and marketing personnel on the role of sensory evaluation in relation to current and future market trends.

List of Contributors xiii

Olive Oil Sensory Science: an Overview xv
Erminio Monteleone and Susan Langstaff

Part I

1 Quality Excellence in Extra Virgin Olive Oils 3
Claudio Peri

1.1 Introduction 3

1.2 Part 1. The standards of excellent olive oil 4

1.3 Part 2. The control of critical processing parameters 19

1.4 Part 3. The marketing of excellent olive oils 27

References 30

2 The Basis of the Sensory Properties of Virgin Olive Oil 33
Agnese Taticchi, Sonia Esposto, and Maurizio Servili

2.1 Sensory attributes of virgin olive oil 33

2.2 Agronomic and technological aspects of production that affect sensory properties and their occurrence in olive oil 42

2.3 Conclusion 49

References 50

3 Sensory Perception and Other Factors Affecting Consumer Choice of Olive Oil 55
Hely Tuorila and Annamaria Recchia

3.1 Introduction 55

3.2 The sensory system 56

3.3 Affective responses to salient sensory attributes of olive oil 63

3.4 Nonsensory aspects of consumer behavior 66

3.5 Conclusion 73

Acknowledgment 73

References 74

4 Sensory Quality Control 81
Susan Langstaff

4.1 Introduction 81

4.2 Historical perspective 81

4.3 Standard methods 83

4.4 Legislative standards 83

4.5 Parameters used to evaluate olive oil quality 84

4.6 Organoleptic assessment – aroma and flavor 86

4.7 IOC taste panel development 86

4.8 IOC terminology for virgin olive oils 87

4.9 IOC profile sheet 91

4.10 “Ring tests” 91

4.11 IOC classification of olive oil grades 93

4.12 Other certification systems 95

4.13 Designing a sensory quality control program 98

4.14 New developments and future opportunities 98

4.15 Conclusion 105

References 106

5 Sensory Methods for Optimizing and Adding Value to Extra Virgin Olive Oil 109
Erminio Monteleone

5.1 Introduction 109

5.2 Perceptual maps 110

5.3 Conventional descriptive analysis 113

5.4 Alternative descriptive methods to conventional descriptive analysis 127

5.5 Perceptual maps from similarity data 130

5.6 Temporal aspects of sensory characteristics of olive oils: Time–Intensity (TI) and Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS) 133

References 137

6 Consumer Research on Olive Oil 141
Claudia Delgado, Metta Santosa, Aurora G´omez-Rico, and Jean-Xavier Guinard

6.1 Introduction 141

6.2 Applications to olive oil 148

6.3 Conclusion 167

References 167

7 Sensory Functionality of Extra Virgin Olive Oil 171
Caterina Dinnella

7.1 Introduction 171

7.2 The Temporal Dominance of Sensation method 177

7.3 Comparing the sensory functionality of extra virgin olive oils with a varied sensory style 184

7.4 Conclusion 191

Acknowledgments 192

References 192

8 Investigating the Culinary Use of Olive Oils 195
Sara Spinelli

8.1 Introduction 195

8.2 Methodological approaches in the study of oil–food pairing 198

8.3 An original approach to studying the sensory functionality of oils in culinary preparations 204

8.4 Conclusion 220

References 221

Part II

9 Olive Oils from Spain 229
Agust´ý Romero, Anna Claret, and Luis Guerrero

9.1 Historical perspective 229

9.2 Geographic and climatic characteristics 230

9.3 Main sensory properties of Spanish olive oils 235

9.3.1 Main Spanish olive-growing areas 238

References 246

10 Olive Oils from Italy 247
Marzia Migliorini

10.1 Introduction 247

10.2 PDO and PGI extra virgin olive oils in Italy 250

10.3 Conclusion 267

References 267

11 Olive Oils from Greece 269
Vassilis Zampounis, Kostas Kontothanasis, and Efi Christopoulou

11.1 Historical perspective 269

11.2 Geographical and climatic characteristics 270

11.3 Overview of olive-producing regions 270

11.4 Messinia–Kalamata 275

11.5 Sensory characteristics of the major Greek olive varieties 281

11.6 Three typical examples of sensory analysis 283

References 286

12 Olive Oils from California 289
Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne and Susan Langstaff

12.1 Overview of olive oils from California 289

12.2 California climate and geography 289

12.3 History 290

12.4 Consumption and production 291

12.5 Production systems 292

12.6 California designations of olive oils 293

12.7 Chemistry of California olive oils 293

12.8 Olive varieties in California 294

12.9 Olive oil regions in California 298

12.10 Conclusion 309

References 309

13 Olive Oils from Australia and New Zealand 313
Leandro Ravetti and Margaret Edwards

13.1 Overview of olive oil industry 313

13.2 Main chemical characteristics of olive oils 317

13.3 Principal olive varieties in Australia and New Zealand 321

13.4 Overview of olive growing regions and principal olive oil styles 325

13.5 Conclusion 334

Acknowledgments 335

References 336

14 Olive Oils from South America 337
Adriana Turcato and Susana Mattar

14.1 The origins of olive growing in South America 337

14.2 Olive growing in Argentina 338

14.3 Other olive-growing countries in South America 340

14.4 Brief geographic description of Argentina 344

14.5 Characterization of San Juan’s olive oils 346

14.6 Sensory profiles 350

14.7 Correlations between sensory and chemical parameters 355

14.8 Conclusion 356

Acknowledgments 356

References 356

Further reading 356

Index 359

Erminio Monteleone is Associate Professor of Sensory Food Science at the University of Florence, Italy.

Susan Langstaff is a sensory scientist and leader of the U.C. Davis Olive Oil Taste Panel. She is the inventor of The Defects Wheel ® for Olive Oil.