A critical review on the use of artificial neural networks in olive oil production, characterization and authentication

Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 

doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2018.1433628

Artificial neural networks (ANN) are computationally based mathematical tools inspired by the fundamental cell of the nervous system, the neuron. ANN constitute a simplified artificial replica of the human brain consisting of parallel processing neural elements similar to neurons in living beings. ANN is able to store large amounts of experimental information to be used for generalization with the aid of an appropriate prediction model. ANN has proved useful for a variety of biological, medical, economic and meteorological purposes, and in agro-food science and technology.

The olive oil industry has a substantial weight in Mediterranean's economy. The different steps of the olive oil production process, which include olive tree and fruit care, fruit harvest, mechanical and chemical processing, and oil packaging have been examined in depth with a view to their optimization, and so have the authenticity, sensory properties and other quality-related properties of olive oil. This paper reviews existing literature on the use of bioinformatics predictive methods based on ANN in connection with the production, processing and characterization of olive oil. It examines the state of the art in bioinformatics tools for optimizing or predicting its quality with a view to identifying potential deficiencies or aspects for improvement.

Diseñando aceites de oliva “gourmet” en Galicia

Lección Inaugural

Curso 2017-2018

Resumen

Pretendo exponer alguno de los principales resultados obtenidos por nuestro grupo a lo largo de varios años de investigación sobre la caracterización aromá- tica y fenólica de aceitunas y aceites de oliva producidos en Galicia, y –de esta manera- visualizar una de nuestras apuestas científicas, de gran interés y rele- vancia actual en Galicia. El objetivo último es contribuir a diseñar una estrategia que permita potenciar la puesta en el mercado de aceites de oliva “gourmet” con valor diferencial.

Link (Gallego)

Link (Castellano)

State of the Art on Functional Virgin Olive Oils Enriched with Bioactive Compounds and Their Properties

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18(3), 668. 

doi:10.3390/ijms18030668

 Virgin olive oil, the main fat of the Mediterranean diet, is per se considered as a functional food—as stated by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)—due to its content in healthy compounds. The daily intake of endogenous bioactive phenolics from virgin olive oil is variable due to the influence of multiple agronomic and technological factors. Thus, a good strategy to ensure an optimal intake of polyphenols through habitual diet would be to produce enriched virgin olive oil with well-known bioactive polyphenols. Different sources of natural biological active substances can be potentially used to enrich virgin olive oil (e.g., raw materials derived from the same olive tree, mainly olive leaves and pomaces, and/or other compounds from plants and vegetables, mainly herbs and spices). The development of these functional olive oils may help in prevention of chronic diseases (such as cardiovascular diseases, immune frailty, ageing disorders and degenerative diseases) and improving the quality of life for many consumers reducing health care costs. In the present review, the most relevant scientific information related to the development of enriched virgin olive oil and their positive human health effects has been collected and discussed.

A widely used spectrophotometric assay to quantify olive oil biophenols according to the health claim (EU Reg. 432/2012)

European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology

DOI: 10.1002/ejlt.201500313

The purpose of this work was to find a simple, cheap, and suitable method, among the most widely employed, able to guarantee a proper determination and quantification of the phenolic content of extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs), in order to satisfy the requirements of the specific health claim (EU Reg. 432/2012). Total phenolic content by Folin–Ciocalteu (FC) was used and compared versus phenolic profile by HPLC-UV, considering this latter as the most sensitive and specific method for evaluating the phenolic content. Both protocols were performed before and after an acid hydrolysis of the polar phenolic fraction that involves a break of the bound forms of hydroxytyrosol (HTyr) and tyrosol (Tyr), with a simplification of the phenolic profile, and quantification of their total free forms. Results of the phenolic compounds of twelve EVOOs, determined by the different analytical approaches, were statistically compared by means of two-tailed paired t-tests: data obtained by the FC assay (expressed as HTyr) before and/or after acid hydrolysis were statistically comparable with results obtained by acid hydrolysis-HPLC (as sum of HTyr and Tyr).

Blending Local olive oils with Arbequina or Picual oils produces high quality, distinctive EVOOs

European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology. 2015

doi 10.1002/ejlt.201400357

Arbequina and Picual are the most common olive fruit varieties cultivated in Galicia (NW Spain). However, in recent years, the interest of oil producers in autochthonous Local olive fruits has increased substantially since its oil has differentiated and peculiar characteristics, especially with respect to the aromatic and phenolic composition. The blending of Local oil (in low percentages) with Arbequina or Picual oils is assessed in this study. Quality-related indices, fatty acid composition, as well as minor compounds, such as volatiles and phenolics, were determined for both monovarietal and blending oils. Results obtained showed that the blending has the advantage of producing high quality virgin olive oil with predictable phenolic and aromatic profiles.

Assessment of extra virgin olive oil blends from monovarietal oils produced in NW Spain

European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology

DOI: 10.1002/ejlt.201400357

Arbequina and Picual are the most common olive fruit varieties cultivated in Galicia (NW Spain). However, in recent years, the interest of oil producers in autochthonous Local olive fruits has increased substantially since its oil has differentiated and peculiar characteristics, especially with respect to the aromatic and phenolic composition. The blending of Local oil (in low percentages) with Arbequina or Picual oils is assessed in this study. Quality-related indices, fatty acid composition as well as minor compounds, such as volatiles and phenolics, were determined for both monovarietal and blending oils. Results obtained showed that the blending has the advantage of producing high quality virgin olive oil with predictable phenolic and aromatic profiles.

Characterisation of extra virgin olive oils from Galician autochthonous varieties and their co-crushings with Arbequina and Picual cv.

Food Chemistry (2015) 176, 493-503

The current trend of the olive oil market is the production of high quality extra from traditional minor olive varieties with peculiar and differentiated characteristics (especially with respect to the aromatic and phenolic composition). In this way, the interest of Galician oil producers (NW Spain) in recovering old autochthonous Local olive fruits has increased substantially in recent years. In order to investigate the potential of the Local olives by either producing high quality monovarietal oils or mixing with the most widespread olives in Galicia (Arbequina and Picual cv.), quality indices, and fatty acid composition as well as volatile and phenolic profiles were determined and compared. All EVOOs studied in this work can be considered as "extra virgin olive oil" due to quality indices fell within the ranges established in legislation. Picual and Local olive oils as well as those resulting from their co-crushing reach values which are required by EU legislation to add the specific health claim on the oil label. Co-crushing Picual:Local (80:20) provided a significant enhancement of grass and apple nuances and a decrease of banana notes with respect to Picual oils. The co-crushing process improved sensory and health properties of Picual extra virgin olive oils. The effect of co-crushing on phenolics, ester volatiles and banana nuances cannot be easily modulated, contrary to quality indices and fatty acid composition, both changing linearly in strict correlation with the fruit mass ratio.