title: The origin of aliphatic hydrocarbons in olive oil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are many substances that can interfere with olive oil quality. Some of them are well characterized, but many others have an unknown origin. Saturated hydrocarbons make an extraordinary complex family of numerous molecules, some of them present naturally in vegetable oils. When major natural saturated hydrocarbons are analyzed by standard chromatographic methods, this complex mixture of saturated hydrocarbons appears as a hump in the chromatogram and is commonly named as unresolved complex mixture (UCM), whose origin remains unknown.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this work we studied the occurrence and the origin of aliphatic saturated hydrocarbons in olive oil. Hydrocarbons were analyzed in olive oil and along the industrial process of oil extraction. We also analyzed n-alkanes and the UCM fraction of hydrocarbons in leaf, fruit and oil from different varieties and different locations, and we also analyzed the soils at these locations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that the hydrocarbons present in olive oil do not necessarily have their origin in a contamination during olive oil elaboration; they seem to have a natural origin, as a result of olive tree metabolism and/or as the result of an intake and accumulation by the olive tree directly from the environment during its entire life cycle. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Botánica, Ecología y Fisiología Vegetal, Instituto Andaluz de Biotecnología, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pineda
authors.affiliation: Oleícola El Tejar, SCA El Tejar, Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Botánica, Ecología y Fisiología Vegetal, Instituto Andaluz de Biotecnología, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Gregorio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gálvez-Valdivieso
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Botánica, Ecología y Fisiología Vegetal, Instituto Andaluz de Biotecnología, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aguilar
mesh_terms: D000473:Alkanes / Q000032:analysis; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D031658:Olea / Q000737:chemistry*; D000069463:Olive Oil / Q000032:analysis*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000473:Alkanes; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D000069463:Olive Oil; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: UCM; aliphatic hydrocarbons; n-alkanes; olive oil