Food Chemistry 212 (2016) 628634

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Food Chemistry
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem

Quality characteristics and antioxidant properties of Turkish

monovarietal olive oils regarding stages of olive ripening
Oya Kseoglu a, Didar Sevim a, Pnar Kadiroglu b,
a
b

Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Directorship of Olive Research Institute, Department of Food Technologies, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey
Adana Science and Technology University, Department of Food Engineering, Seyhan, Adana, Turkey

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 13 April 2016
Received in revised form 8 June 2016
Accepted 10 June 2016
Available online 11 June 2016
Keywords:
Extra virgin olive oil
Ripening
Quality
Chemical composition
Antioxidant activity
Principal component analysis

a b s t r a c t
The aim of this study was to discriminate the extra virgin olive oils (EVOO) based on quality characteristics, chemical composition and antioxidant activity according to ripening stages of olives. Two different
olive varieties (Memecik and Gemlik) were obtained at different stages of ripening based on skin color
(green, purple and black). Quality properties of olive oils; free fatty acidity, peroxide value, K232 and
K270, purity properties; fatty acid and triacylglycerol (TAG) composition and antioxidant compounds like
total phenol, carotenoid and chlorophyll content and antioxidant activity (oxidative stability, ABTS
radical scavenging activity) analyses were performed. Higher amount of oleic, linoleic and palmitic acids
were observed in olive oils. Oleic acid amount of olive oils decreased, linoleic acid increased with ripening. The most abundant TAG of olive oils were ECN 48, OOO, SLO + POO, ECN 46 and LOO/PLO. Olive oils
were clearly classified by principal component analysis based on fatty acid and TAG composition.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) consumption has increased due to
the increased attention of consumers for health benefits of food
products (Ortega, 2006). Olive oils extracted from Memecik and
Gemlik olive varieties are economically important olive oils in
_
lu &
Turkey (Sevim, Kseoglu, & ztrk Gngr, 2013b; Ilyasog
zelik, 2011). South Aegean Olive Oils produced from Memecik
cultivar are certified by the Turkish Patent Institute as PDO
(Protected Domination Origin) (TPI, 2004). The health benefits of
olive oil can be related with its chemical composition which has
effect on olive oil oxidative stability and quality (Bendini et al.,
2007). Olive oil chemical composition consists of TAG (99%)
and free fatty acids, mono- and diacylglycerols, and lipids such as
hydrocarbons, sterols, aliphatic alcohols, tocopherols, and
pigments fatty acid composition of olive oil includes palmitic
(C16:0), palmitoleic (C16:1), stearic (C18:0), oleic (C18:1), linoleic
(C18:2), and linolenic (C18:3) acids (Boskou et al., 2006). Phenolic
compounds are the minor compounds in olive oils with high
antioxidant activity providing nutritional and sensorial properties.
Carotenoids exhibit antioxidant effect on virgin olive oils by
quenching singlet oxygen inhibiting photosensitised oxidation
Corresponding author at: Adana Science and Technology University, Department of
Food Engineering, 01180, Seyhan, Adana, Turkey.
E-mail address: pkadiroglu@adanabtu.edu.tr (P. Kadiroglu).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.06.027
0308-8146/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

(Beltran, Aguilera, Del Rio, Sanchez, & Martinez, 2005). The green
colors of the olive fruits and olive oils are provided by chlorophylls
and it is one of the quality parameters for olive oils (Giuliani,
Cerretani, & Cichelli, 2011). Chlorophylls show antioxidant activity
in the dark while they act as pro-oxidant in the light (Gandul-Rojas
& Minguez-Mosquera, 1996). Olive oil extraction using healthy
fruits harvested at the right stage of ripening by using proper
methods have influence on chemical characteristics of olive oils
(Olias, Perez, Rios, & Sanz, 1993). Olive oil is resistant to oxidation
because of its low polyunsaturated fatty acid composition and high
contents of a-tocopherol and phenolic contents (Sevim, Tuncay, &
Kseoglu, 2013a).
Several studies have been performed for determination of the
effect of olive ripening stage on quality and chemical composition
of olive oils obtained from Tunisian cultivars (Baccouri et al.,
2008); Hojiblanca cultivars (Beltran et al., 2005); Moroccan Picholine and autochthon cultivars (Boukachabine, Ajana, & El Antari,
2011); Spanish olive cultivars (Gmez-Rico, Fregapane, &
Salvador, 2008); Chilean cultivars (Romero, Saavedra, Tapia,
Seplveda, & Aparicio, 2016) and Oblica and Leccino cultivars
(pika et al., 2015).
According to our knowledge there is no detailed study on the
influence of ripening stage on chemical composition and quality
evaluation of Turkish olive varieties; Memecik and Gemlik. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the effect of olive ripening stage on chemical composition, oxidative stability and quality

O. Kseoglu et al. / Food Chemistry 212 (2016) 628634

properties of olive oils obtained from Memecik and Gemlik cultivars in combination with PCA as a multivariate statistical method.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Olive oil samples
Two different olive varieties; Memecik (M) and Gemlik (G) were
harvested (15 kg) in the Olive Research Institute of Ministry of
Food, Agriculture and Livestock in Izmir/Turkey in 2015 crop season at three stages of ripening according to skin pigmentation
(green, purple, black). Olive oils were extracted by using Abencor
laboratory oil mill (MC2 Ingenieria y Sistemas, Sevilla, Spain)
equipped with fruit crushing, malaxation and centrifuge parts.
The malaxation temperature was 30 C and the duration of malaxation was 30 min. All oil samples were filtered and stored in the
amber glass bottles and at +4 C until they were analyzed. 100 ml
of each oil sample was used for the analyses.
2.2. Maturity index (MI)
The olive maturity index was determined according to the
method given by International Olive Council (IOC, 2011) based
on the evaluation of the olive skin and pulp colors.
2.3. Standard chemical parameters
The free fatty acidity and the peroxide values were determined
according to Turkish Food Codex (Anonymous, 2014) and UV spectrophotometric indices (K232 and K270 measurements) were measured according to the methods given by International Olive
Council (IOC, 2015). All parameters were determined duplicate
for each sample.

629

centrifuging the solution at 3500 rpm for 10 min. 0.2 ml of

methanolic phase was put into flask and completed with deionized
water to 5 ml, then FolinCiocalteu (0.5 ml) was added to the mixture. After 3 min, 1 ml of sodium carbonate (35%, w/v) was added
and diluted to 10 ml with pure water. After 2 h of incubation, the
absorbance of the solution was read at 725 nm with a spectrophotometer (UV-1700, Shimadzu, JAPAN). The total phenol content
was expressed in mg equivalent of caffeic acid per kilogram of oil
(mg CAE/kg).
2.7. Antioxidant activity analysis
ABTS
+ Radical Scavenging Activity (RSA) analysis of the olive oil
samples was detected by the method given by Re et al. (1999).
An aliquot of oil (0.5 g) was dissolved in 5 mL hexane. ABTS was
dissolved in water to a 7 mM concentration. ABTS
+ was produced
by reacting ABTS stock solution with 2.45 mM potassium persulfate (final concentration) and mixture was left in darkness at room
temperature for 1216 h before use and diluted with ethanol to an
absorbance of 0.70 (0.020) at 734 nm (Re et al., 1999). 150 lL of
sample (extract or standard) were mixed with ABTS
+ (2000 lL)
and the mixture was kept at room temperature in darkness for
15 min. The absorbances of the ABTS
+ mixtures were measured
at 734 nm with a spectrophotometer (Shimadzu Spectrophotometer UV-1700 PharmaSpec, Japan). The TE of the ABTS
+ RSA was
calculated against the standard curve prepared with known concentrations of Trolox (R2 = 0.9913). The data are expressed as lmol
Trolox/100 g oil of each sample.
2.8. Oxidative stability analysis
The oxidative stability analyses of the samples were conducted
by using Rancimat 743 (Metrohm Ltd., Herisau, Sweden) according
to the method described by Tura et al. (2007).

2.4. Fatty acid composition

2.9. Total chlorophyll and carotenoid analyses

Fatty acid composition of olive oil samples was determined

using gas chromatography system (HP 6890, Agilent Technologies,
DE, USA) equipped with flame ionization detector (FID) described
by International Olive Council (IOC, 2015). The capillary column
(DB-23, 30 m * 0.25 mm * film thickness: 0.250 lm, Agilent J&W
GC Columns, DE, USA) was used for analyses. The temperature of
the detector and injector was set to 250 C. The oven temperature
was programmed from 170 to 210 C with an increment of 2 C/
min. The analysis was ended by maintaining the temperature to
210 C for 10 min. The injection volume was 1 ll.

7.5 g of olive oil sample was dissolved in cyclohexane and completed to 25 ml in a volumetric flask. Carotenoid and chlorophyll
content of the sample was determined by measuring the solution
at 670 nm and 470 nm with a spectrophotometer (UV-1700,
Shimadzu, JAPAN), respectively (Minguez-Mosquera, Rejano,
Gandul, Sanchez, & Garrido, 1991).

2.5. Tocopherol analysis

Alpha tocopherol analysis was performed according to the
methods given by Carpenter (1979) and IUPAC (1987). HPLC system (Agilent 1100) was operated for the analysis with l-porasil
column (250 mm * 4.6 mm * 5 lm) (Waters, Ireland). The mobile
phase consisted of hexane/2-propanol (99:1) and given to the system at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. The temperature of the column was
set to 250 C. The injection volume was 20 ll.
2.6. Total phenol content
Total phenol content of the samples was determined according
to the method described by Gutfinger (1981) and Hrncirik and
Fritsche (2004). 2.5 g of oil sample was dissolved in 5 ml of hexane
and phenolic compounds were extracted using 5 ml methanol/
water (60:40 v/v) by shaking the solution for 2 min. Hexane and
methanol/water phases were separated from each other by

2.10. Triacylglycerol analysis

The analysis of TAGs was performed according to the official liquid chromatographic method described in Regulation EEC/2568/91
of the European Union Commission (Anonymous, 1991). The chromatographic analysis was performed using an Instrument Agilent
1200 HPLC system consisted of a degasser, quaternary pump, manual six-way injection valve, differential refractometer detector, and
Chemstation Software (3365 version) package for instrument control, data acquisition, and data analysis. The results were expressed
in percentage of total TAG. The column was a Superspher 100 RP18 HPLC column (Merck, Germany) (250  4 mm i.d.  4 lm). A
loop of 100 lL capacity was used in which 0.5 lL of sample was
injected. Acetone (63.6%)/acetonitrile (36.4%) were mobile phases
with a flow rate linear gradient (1.200 mL min 1) under nebulizer
gas pressure 2.00 bar for 45 min.
2.11. Statistical analysis
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to indicate the differences among the samples using the Fishers least significant difference test at p < 0.05 significance level. The multivariate data

O. Kseoglu et al. / Food Chemistry 212 (2016) 628634

630

analysis was performed with PCA to analyse the results of fatty

acid and triacylglycerol composition of the samples. The data
matrix consisted of observations (olive oil samples) and variables
(fatty acid and triacylglycerol concentrations). PCA score and loading plots were constructed for visual interpretation of the results.
All results were analysed using Minitab 16 programme (Minitab
Inc., State College, USA).

3.3. Major compounds of olive oils

3.3.1. Fatty acid composition
Fatty acid composition of olive oils was investigated with fatty
acids (palmitic, palmitoleic, heptadecanoic, stearic, oleic, linoleic,

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Maturity index (MI)
MI values of the samples were determined for each variety.
Maturity index of Memecik olives were classified into three
groups; 2.4 (green); 3 (purple); 6.2 (black). Maturity index values
of Gemlik olives were found as 2.1 (green); 2.5 (purple); 4.1
(black).
3.2. Standard chemical parameters
Free fatty acidities of the samples were within the limit of the
values established by IOC (2015). All olive oil samples were categorized as extra virgin olive oil according to the free fatty acidity
values ranging from 0.14 to 0.46 (% oleic acid). As can be seen in
Table 1, ANOVA analysis showed that there were significant differences between the samples depending on free fatty acidity values
(p < 0.05). In both of the olive oil samples, free fatty acidity values
increased slightly during ripening. This result was in accordance
with other studies (Baccouri et al., 2008; Salvador, Aranda, &
Fregapane, 2001).
The peroxide value and UV spectrophotometric characteristics
were the important parameters describing the oxidative status of
the oil samples. The peroxide value of extra virgin olive oil was
given as 620 meq O2 kg 1 by IOC. K232 and K270 values were
demonstrated as 62.5 and 60.20 respectively for extra virgin
olive oil categorization. All the samples exhibited the values within
the range of the limits for extra virgin olive oil.

Fig. 1. MUFA/PUFA and Oleic acid/Linoleic acid ratios of Memecik and Gemlik olive
oils at 3 ripening stages (MG: Memecik (green); MP: Memecik (purple); MB:
Memecik (black); GG: Gemlik (green); GP: Gemlik (purple); GB: Gemlik (black)).

Table 1
Quality properties of olive oil samples.

af

Samples

Alpha
tocopherol
(mg/kg)

K232

K270

Oxidative
stability (h)

ABTS
+ RSA
(lmol TE/100g
oil)

Total phenol
(mgCAE/kg)

Total
chlorophyll
(mg/kg)

Total
carotenoid
(mg/kg)

Free fatty
acidity (% oleic
acid)

Peroxide
values
(meqO2/kg)

MG
MP
MB
GG
GP
GB

296.40 0.33e
305.48 0.79d
313.64 0.21c
377.64 4.22a
335.44 2.28b
299.31 0.71e

1.66 0.00a
1.65 0.01a
1.54 0.01b
1.44 0.03c
1.40 0.00d
1.44 0.00c

0.13a
0.13a
0.11b
0.08d
0.08c
0.08c

16.82 0.04a
13.86 2.22c
11.14 0.23d
16.59 2.02a
15.82 0.04b
9.87 3.64e

132.87 1.00a
126.31 0.25b
118.33 0.50c
94.93 3.01d
79.50 0.75e
76.49 0.50e

372.70 10.76b
407.13 14.15a
296.24 18.12c
194.96 9.62e
245.40 9.62d
150.92 5.10f

8.83 0.02a
3.12 0.03c
2.58 0.05d
3.67 0.02b
1.13 0.02e
0.59 0.02f

4.03 0.04a
1.90 0.01c
1.46 0.04d
2.05 0.04b
0.93 0.01e
0.54 0.05f

0.34b
0.46a
0.45a
0.14d
0.25c
0.24c

4.30 0.03c
3.74 0.01d
4.55 0.01b
4.74 0.00a
2.60 0.00e
2.46 0.02f

Different letters in the same column concerning all samples significantly different values (p < 0.05).

Table 2
Fatty acid composition (%) of olive oil samples.
Olive oils
MG
MP
MB
GG
GP
GB
a
*

C16:0

C16:1*

C17:0

C17:1

C18:0

C18:1

C18:2

C18:3*

C20:0

C20:1*

C22:0

C24:0

14.93
14.69
14.56
14.70
15.42
15.49

0.85e
0.95de
1.07cd
1.12bc
1.25b
1.60a

0.04
0.04
0.03
0.16
0.13
0.12

0.07
0.07
0.06
0.27
0.25
0.24

2.12
2.00
1.95
3.09
2.81
2.43

72.37
71.23
68.92
73.95
72.03
68.68

8.01
9.42
11.81
5.01
6.46
9.87

0.69e
0.70de
0.74cd
0.75bc
0.76b
0.79a

0.40
0.38
0.37
0.48
0.44
0.38

0.32a
0.33a
0.31a
0.28a
0.27b
0.26b

0.12
0.11
0.12
0.13
0.12
0.10

0.08
0.08
0.07
0.10
0.09
0.07

First letter indicates the olive variety Memecik (M) and Gemlik (G) and second letter indicates the ripening stage of olives G: Green, P: Purple, B: Black.
ae Different letters in the same column concerning all samples significantly different values (p < 0.05).

O. Kseoglu et al. / Food Chemistry 212 (2016) 628634

linolenic, arachidic, gadoleic, behenic and lignoceric). Fatty acid

composition of the olive oil samples was shown in Table 2. The
major fatty acids found in Memecik and Gemlik olive oils were
oleic, linoleic, palmitic and stearic acids. The major fatty acid was
oleic acid ranging from 68.68% to 73.95% for both varieties of olive
oils. This oleic acid limit was 71.04% for Gemlik oil which was
slightly higher than 68.68% found in our study for Gemlik oil
obtained from black olives (Matthus & zcan, 2011). The oleic
acid content of the samples was within the 55.0083.00% limits
established by IOC (2003). The oleic acid of olive oils decreased
as the skin color of the olives changed from green to black. The
linoleic acid amount (range between 5.01% and 11.81%) was
between the limits established as 2.521.0% by IOOC. The concentration of linoleic acid increased from 8.01% to 11.81% for Memecik
olive oils and from 5.01% to 9.87% for Gemlik olive oils during
ripening. The linolenic acids levels (range between 0.69% and
0.79%) of the olive oil samples were below the limit established
by IOC (1.0%). There were significant differences between the olive
oil samples concerning palmitoleic, linolenic and gadoleic fatty
acids (p < 0.05).
The ratios of MUFA/PUFA and oleic acid/linoleic acid were
higher in Gemlik olive oil samples than Memecik oil samples
(Fig. 1). These ratios decreased during the olive ripening process.
This can be explained by the activity of oleate desaturase enzyme

631

that transforms oleic acid to linoleic acid and catalyse the formation of double bonds (Gutirrez, Jimnez, Ruiz, & Albi, 1999).
PCA was performed to discriminate the olive oil samples based
on fatty acid composition of olive oils according to harvest time
and variety. PCA was constructed with 2 components accounting
for 87.6% of total variance. The results were graphically represented by PCA score and loading plots. As it can be seen from
Fig. 2a, Memecik and Gemlik olive oils were clearly discriminated
according to variety and stage of ripening. Loading plot (Fig. 2b)
of the variables (fatty acids) showed that gadoleic (C20:1) and linoleic (C18:2) acids were responsible for discrimination of Memecik
olive oils.
3.3.2. Triacylglycerol (TAG) composition
TAG composition of olive oils was listed in Table 3. The main
triacylglycerols were OOO (triolein), SLO + POO, LOO + PLnP, SOO,
POP and PLO + SLL. These accounted for 90.0% of the total peak
areas in the chromatogram. The OOO varies between 31.45% and
36.75% for Memecik olive oils while it ranged between 31.55%
and 39.37% for Gemlik olive oils. The OOO level of Memecik olive
oil has been determined lower than the results of Gkebag,
Draman, and zdemir (2013). The presence of OOO at high levels
indicates authenticity of olive oils (Gkebag et al., 2013). In addition, all olive oil samples had low amount of LLL (trilinolein). The

Fig. 2. a) Scores and b) loading plots with PCA according to fatty acid profiles of Memecik and Gemlik olive oils.

O. Kseoglu et al. / Food Chemistry 212 (2016) 628634

632
Table 3
Triacylglycerol (%) composition of olive oil samples.
Samples

Codes

MG

MP

MB

GG

GP

GB

LLL
LOLn + POLL
PLLn
OLL
OLnO
PLL
POLn
LOO + PLnP
PoOO
PLO + SLL
PoOP
PLP
OOO
SLO + POO
POP
PPP
SOO
POS
ECN 42
ECN 44
ECN 46
ECN 48
ECN 50
PLO/OOO
LLL/ECN42
PLL/OLL
ECN48/ECN46
LOO/PLO
OOO/POO

L1
L2
P1
O1
O2
P2
P3
L3
P4
P5
P6
P7
O4
S1
P8
P9
S2
P10
E1
E2
E3
E4
E5
P11
L4
P12
E6
L5
O5

0.05
0.23
0.07
1.42
1.26
0.40
0.65
12.38
0.64
6.58
0.57
0.77
36.75
27.46
4.55
0.49
3.63
1.23
0.35
3.73
20.93
69.24
4.86
0.18
0.14
0.28
3.31
31.03
1.34

0.09
0.29
0.09
2.06
1.38
0.54
0.64
14.88
0.55
7.67
0.46
0.85
36.58
24.41
3.66
0.50
3.46
1.06
0.47
4.62
24.40
65.14
4.52
0.21
0.19
0.26
2.67
27.56
1.50

0.18
0.38
0.11
3.08
1.44
0.90
0.70
16.70
0.60
8.89
0.66
1.02
31.45
24.47
4.09
0.43
3.11
1.11
0.67
6.10
27.86
60.42
4.22
0.28
0.27
0.29
2.17
18.67
1.29

0.00
0.24
0.06
0.63
1.41
0.26
0.64
7.87
1.09
4.09
0.37
0.52
39.37
29.81
4.41
0.60
5.54
1.82
0.30
2.94
13.93
74.19
7.36
0.10
0.01
0.41
5.33
30.30
1.32

0.00
0.32
0.08
1.03
1.53
0.40
0.71
9.82
1.40
5.66
0.75
0.94
36.66
28.51
4.28
0.53
4.79
1.57
0.40
3.66
18.56
69.96
6.36
0.15
0.00
0.39
3.77
24.90
1.29

0.14
0.43
0.11
2.35
1.78
0.76
0.76
12.92
1.64
7.78
1.01
1.26
31.55
26.62
4.53
0.42
3.71
1.38
0.68
5.65
24.60
63.12
5.09
0.25
0.20
0.32
2.57
17.11
1.19

ECN
ECN
ECN
ECN
ECN

LLL + LOLn + POLL + PLLn

OLL + OLnO + PLL + POLn
LOO + PLnP + PoOO + PLO + SLL + PoOP + PLP
OOO + SLO + POO + POP + PPP
SOO + POS

42
44
46
48
50

Sevim et al. (2013a) and Salvador, Aranda, Gmez-Alonso, and

Fregapane (2003) reported that a-tocopherol content of olive oil
does not show a clear trend in relation to the maturity stage of
olive fruit. Our research was similar with other researchers.
Chlorophylls and carotenoids have antioxidant effect in virgin
olive oils (Beltran et al., 2005). Total carotenoid and chlorophyll
measurements of the olive oil samples indicated the same trend
with ABTS
+ assay and oxidative stability of olive oils as the total
carotenoid and total chlorophyll content decreased when ripening
progressed. Similar results were reported by Salvador et al. (2001)
and Gutirrez et al. (1999).
3.5. Total phenol content
Total phenol content is an important parameter for olive oils
influencing antioxidant potential and sensory quality of olive oils.
Phenolic composition of olive oils is affected by cultivar, fruit
ripening and some technological and agronomic conditions
(Servili & Montedoro, 2002). Total phenol content of Memecik olive
oil samples were significantly higher than Gemlik olive oil samples
at all stages of ripening. Total phenol contents of olive oils obtained
from the olives at purple ripening stage were significantly higher
than other stages in both of the olive cultivars. There were significant differences between the olive oil samples according to total
phenol contents (p < 0.05). The difference between the phenol contents of the olive oils was related to difference between the
polysaccharides of the cell wall affecting the release of phenolic
compounds during crushing of fruits and malaxation stages
(Tovar, Motilva, & Romero, 2001). The effect of fruit ripening and
cultivar on the amount of phenolic compounds such as oleuropein
and dimethyloleuropein was reported previously (Amiot, Fleuriet,
& Macheix, 1986).
3.6. Oxidative stability

results of five equivalent carbon number analysis (ECN 42, ECN 44,
ECN 46, ECN 48 and ECN 50) revealed that ECN 48 fraction was the
determined between 60.42% and 94.96% as the highest values in
the both varieties of olive oil samples at all stages of ripening. This
value was followed by ECN 46 (between 13.93% and 27.86%)
values. These TAG values and other parameters (ECN 42-ECN 50)
were comparable with other studies (Baccouri et al., 2008;
Boukachabine et al., 2011; Gkebag et al., 2013).
TAG composition of olive oils was used to discriminate olive oil
samples obtained from different ripening stages of olives. PCA was
performed with 3 principal components which account for 92.0% of
the variability in the data (Fig. 3a). According to loading plot
(Fig. 3b) of TAG data, Memecik cultivar of olive oil was characterized by OOO/POO (O5) at green and black stages of ripening.
LOO + PLnP, LLL/ECN 42, OLL, PLO/OOO, ECN 46, PLO + SLL were
responsible for discrimination of M olive oils obtained from oils
at black ripening stage. POP played role in characterization of
Gemlik (purple) oils while ECN 48/ECN 46 and SOO were effective
for characterizing Gemlik (green) oils. Also, Gemlik (black) olive oil
was characterized by POLn and PoOP.
3.4. Minor compounds of olive oils
In olive oil, vitamin E is represented by tocopherol. Tocopherols
have inhibitory effect on LDL oxidation and they have several
nutritional benefits (Beltran et al., 2005). Tocopherols play a key
role in preserving oil from rancidity during storage <alpha> tocopherol content of the olive oil samples ranged from 296.40 to
377.64 mg/kg. In our research, a-tocopherol content decreased
during fruit ripening for Gemlik olive oil, but in the Memecik olive
oil it increased with ripening. Gutirrez et al. (1999) reported that
the tocopherol content of olive oil decreased during fruit ripening.

The oxidative stability of olive oils is influenced especially by the

fatty acid composition and the presence of phenolic compounds.
Oxidative stability of olive oils was measured using Rancimat
method and given in Table 1. The values of the olive oils extracted
from green stage olives were significantly higher than other olive
oil samples and decreased as the fruits ripened. The oxidative stability of Memecik olive oil was reported as 12.7 h by Kralan and
Bayrak (2013). This value was between purple and black ripening
stage of olive oils used in this study related with the difference
between the maturity levels of olives. The oxidative stability of both
varieties of olive oils was lower than the oxidative stability of olive
oils obtained from Cornicabra varieties (Salvador et al., 2001).
3.7. Antioxidant activity of olive oils
The antioxidant properties of olive oils depend on several
factors such as the cultivar, fruit ripening stage, agloclimatic conditions and olive growing methods (Beltran et al., 2005). The ability
of antioxidant molecules or extracts to scavenge ABTS
+ radical was
measured in this study. The antioxidant activity of our olive oils
decreased during ripening. However, the antioxidant capacity of
Memecik olive oils was significantly higher than Gemlik olive oils.
Similar results were reported by Kelebek, Kesen, and Selli (2015)
that the antioxidant capacities of Memecik and Gemlik olive oils
obtained with ABTS RSA assay were 0.83 and 1.31 (lmol
Trolox/100 g oil), respectively. The oxidative stability of olive oils
decreased with antioxidant activity values of olive oils. It is
reported that, ABTS
+ radical scavenging activity was positively
affected by total phenol (Galvano et al., 2007; Pellegrini, Visioli,
Buratti, & Brighenti, 2001) and a-tocopherol contents (Gorinstein
et al., 2003; Pellegrini et al., 2001) of olive oils. Our results showed

O. Kseoglu et al. / Food Chemistry 212 (2016) 628634

633

Fig. 3. a) Scores and b) loading plots with PCA according to TAG composition of Memecik and Gemlik olive oils.

that ABTS
+ radical scavenging activity is more affected by

a-tocopherol compared than by total phenol content. When the
correlation between the antioxidant capacity and total phenol content of olive oils was evaluated, the results showed strong correlation between ABTS
+ RSA and total phenolic compounds (r = 0.89).
4. Conclusions
This study was performed to determine the effect of ripening
stage on chemical parameters, major and minor compounds, total
phenolic content, oxidative stability and antioxidant activity of two
different varieties (Memecik and Gemlik) of olive oils. According to
the results, free fatty acidity, a-tocopherol, total phenol contents of
olive oils increased with ripening until purple stage of the olives
then decreased as ripening progressed. The ratios of MUFA/PUFA
and oleic acid/linoleic acid decreased during ripening. K232, K270,
oxidative stability, antioxidant activity, total chlorophyll and carotenoid contents of olive oils decreased with ripening. PCA analyses
of olive oils indicated that different TAG and fatty acid components
were responsible for characterization and classification of olive oils
obtained from olives at different ripening stages. This study
revealed that ripening stage is an important parameter for characterization and discrimination of Memecik and Gemlik olive oils.

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