FOSAN

ABSTRACT
The market for premium priced foods has increased dramatically over recent years, as consumers become ever more aware of products originating from around the world. There are many food products that are of superior quality (taste, texture, fragrance) because of the locale in which they are cultivated. Environmental conditions, such as local climate and soil characteristics, combine to yield crops that exhibit specific traits. Olive oil is a commodity for which high value is attached to the region of it’s origin. In Italy, higher prices can be asked for extra-virgin olive oils depending on the region of origin. Recently, the European law (EC Reg. 182/2009) requires the indication of the geographical origin for all extra-virgin olive oils, irrespective than protected denomination of origin (PDO) and/or protected geographic indication (PGI) of origin. Therefore, in the last few years attention has been focused on authentication methods for the geographical origin of olive oils. In this work, a review of some analytical methods applied to assess and investigate the quality of selected olive oils produced in areas with different climatic and geological characteristics is presented. All data obtained by analyzing the methyl esters of fatty acids, trace element profiles and carbon isotope ratios were treated by means of proper chemometric procedures.

In most countries of Mediterranean Basin, Bactrocera oleae (Gmel), the olive fruit fly, is the key pest insect on olives. In Calabria and Sicily this pest causes losses of fruits and a poor quality olive oil. Recently, some field studies were carried out on the use of kaolin and copper based products against the olive-fruit fly. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of the processed kaolin “Surround WP” and copper based products on olive infestations in east Calabria and Sicily and to evaluate the chemical, nutritional and sensory parameters of oils extracted. In order to carry out trials with kaolin and copper based products and to realize information and divulgation activities, specific olive groves have been selected. The preliminary results showed that fruit infestation levels were significantly reduced on kaolin-treated trees compared with untreated trees. The promising results of these experiments points to the feasibility of using particle film technology to avoid olive fly damage as an alternative to the applications of rotenone in organic orchards. Finally, kaolin treatment unaffected the nutritional and sensory quality parameters of the corresponding virgin olive oils obtained by a laboratory scale olive mill, thus satisfying the present quality requirements.

Nella maggior parte dei paesi del bacino del mediterraneo, Bactrocera oleae (Gmel.), la mosca delle olive, è un grave problema per tutta l’olivicoltura in quanto, provocando seri danni al frutto, compromette in maniera significativa la qualità dell’olio d'oliva. Recentemente, sono stati effettuati studi su campo basati sull'uso di caolino e prodotti rameici per combattere la mosca delle olive. In questo studio sono stati valutati gli effetti che il caolino "Surround WP" e i prodotti rameici hanno avuto sulle infestazioni della mosca delle olive ma, soprattutto, sui parametri chimici e sensoriali degli oli estratti dalle piante su cui i trattamenti sono stati effettuati. Le sperimentazioni sono state condotte in oliveti delle regioni italiane Calabria e Sicilia. I risultati preliminari hanno dimostrato che i trattamenti eseguiti sulle piante hanno significativamente ridotto i livelli di infestazione della mosca senza determinare un peggioramento della qualità merceologica e nutrizionale valutato sulla base dei valori dei principali parametri chimici, chimico-fisici e sensoriali degli oli.