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The effect of cultivar and harvest season on the n-alkane and the n-alkene composition of virgin olive oil

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Abstract

Linear hydrocarbons such as n-alkanes and n-alkenes are contained in the unsaponifiable fraction and are one of the less studied class of components in olive oil. This work was conducted in two subsequent harvest seasons (2016–2017 and 2017–2018) and attentioned the oils of nine olive cultivars: Cassanese, Coratina, Itrana, Leccino, Nociara, Ottobratica, Pendolino, Picholine and Sinopolese grown in the same geographical area (Rizziconi) of the region of Calabria (South Italy). Seven out of the nine cultivars were allochthonous for the geographical area where the experiment was conducted. Height n-alkanes with odd-carbon chain number, seven n-alkanes with even-carbon chain number and three n-alkenes were detected in the following elution order: heneicosane, docosane, tricosene, tricosane, tetracosene, tetracosane, pentacosene, pentacosane, hexacosane, heptacosane, octacosane, nonacosane, triacontane, entriacontane, dotriacontane, tritriacontane, tetratriacontane, pentatriacontane. The cultivar variable produced very high significant differences, this was particularly evident for Sinopolese oil showing a total n-alkanes and n-alkenes content of 260 and 290 mg/kg respectively for the first and the second harvest season, whereas Ottobratica and Picholine oils contained less than 100 mg/kg and Cassanese and Itrana oils contained less than 50 mg/kg. The highest n-alkene content was found in the oil of Ottobratica 1.97–161 mg/kg, Picholine 2.34–1.99 mg/kg and in Sinopolese 1.93–2.91 mg/kg. The odd/even ratio was less than 3 for Picholine and Sinopolese and less than 5 for all other cultivars. Docosane was 12.30 and 17.61 mg/kg for Sinopolese and less than 2 mg/kg for all other cultivars. Harvest season did not influence significantly the n-alkanes and n-alkenes content.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by: Distretto ad alta tecnologia agroindustriale della Calabria AGRIFOODTECH—PROGETTO PON03PE_00090_2. Sustainable models and new technologies for olives and olive oil.

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  1. Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Risorse forestali, Ambiente Risorse zootecniche, Ingegneria agraria, Alimenti, Università degli Studi Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, AGRARIA, Contrada Melissari, 89124, Reggio Calabria, Italy

    Angelo Maria Giuffrè

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Correspondence to Angelo Maria Giuffrè.

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Giuffrè, A.M. The effect of cultivar and harvest season on the n-alkane and the n-alkene composition of virgin olive oil. Eur Food Res Technol 247, 25–36 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-020-03604-x

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