Abstract
Percolated and centrifuged virgin olive oils obtained from different olive varieties by the continuous combined enzyme-aided percolation-centrifugation extraction system have been characterized. The percolation extractor gave, under the selected conditions used, oils showing the following: (i) higher contents of pleasant volatiles (with higher values of the characteristic ratios between naturally occurring flavor and aroma compounds), phenols, o-diphenols, hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol- and hydroxytyrosol-aglycons, α-tocopherol, and waxes; (ii) tendentially lower contents of β-carotene, major xanthophylls (lutein, violaxanthin, and neoxanthin), chlorophylls, and pheophytins; (iii) lower values of chroma and turbidity; (iv) lower alcoholic index and integral color index; (v) lower contents of superior aliphatic and triterpene alcohols, triterpene dialcohols, sterols, and hexanal; (vi) higher sensory score, oxidative stability, overall quality indices, and 1, 2-diglycerides/1, 3-diglycerides ratio; and (vii) similar UV (ultraviolet) spectrophotometric indices, carbonyl index, free acidity degree, fatty acid composition, campesterol/stigmasterol ratio, triacylglycerol and diacylglycerol percentage, and hue values.
