title: Chemical composition and oxidative stability of Tunisian monovarietal virgin olive oils with regard to fruit ripening.
abstract: The chemical composition of virgin olive oil may be influenced by genotype and different agronomic (i.e. fruit ripeness degree, water supply) and technological factors. This article reports the evaluation of the influence of the olive ripening stage on the quality indices, the major and the minor components and the oxidative stability of the two main monovarietal Tunisian cultivars (cvv. Chétoui and Chemlali) virgin olive oils. Moreover, the olives cv. Chétoui were tested in a rain-fed control and an irrigation regime. The oils sampled at five different ripeness stages were submitted to liquid chromatographic determination (HPLC-DAD/MSD) of their quali-quantitative phenolic and tocopherolic profiles. Moreover, the triacylglycerol and fatty acid compositions, and minor components such as squalene, pigments and their relation with the oil oxidative stability were evaluated. The tested oils showed very good correlation between the oxidative stability and the concentrations of total phenols, practically secoiridoids and α-tocopherol.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Caractérisation et Qualité de l'Huile d'Olive, Centre de Biotechnologie de Borj-Cédria, 901-2050 Hammam-Lif, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Olfa
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Baccouri
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Caractérisation et Qualité de l'Huile d'Olive, Centre de Biotechnologie de Borj-Cédria, 901-2050 Hammam-Lif, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Mokhtar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guerfel
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Caractérisation et Qualité de l'Huile d'Olive, Centre de Biotechnologie de Borj-Cédria, 901-2050 Hammam-Lif, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Bechir
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baccouri
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti, Università di Bologna, Piazza Goidanich 60, 47023 Cesena (FC), Italy. Electronic address: lorenzo.cerretani@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cerretani
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti, Università di Bologna, Piazza Goidanich 60, 47023 Cesena (FC), Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bendini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti, Università di Bologna, Piazza Goidanich 60, 47023 Cesena (FC), Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lercker
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Caractérisation et Qualité de l'Huile d'Olive, Centre de Biotechnologie de Borj-Cédria, 901-2050 Hammam-Lif, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Mokhtar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zarrouk
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Caractérisation et Qualité de l'Huile d'Olive, Centre de Biotechnologie de Borj-Cédria, 901-2050 Hammam-Lif, Tunisia. Electronic address: douja.daoud@inrst.rnrt.tn.
authors.forename: Douja
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Daoud Ben Miled
keywords: Antioxidants; Composition; Irrigation; Oxidative stability; Ripening stage; Tunisian varieties; Virgin olive oil