Characterization and Classification of Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Five Less Well-Known Greek Olive Cultivars

The present study comprises the second part of an ongoing study focusing on olive oil from five less well-known Greek cultivars for three of which there are no data available in the literature regarding their chemical composition. A total of 74 olive oil samples were collected during the harvesting periods 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. Headspace-solid phase microextraction was applied to determine the olive oil volatile profile. Fifty-six compounds were identified and semi-quantified by CG-MS. Furthermore, fatty acid composition, conventional quality parameters and color parameters were determined in an effort to characterize and differentiate olive oils according to cultivar. All samples were characterized as extra virgin olive oils. Data obtained showed significant differences between the cultivars. Multi-element analysis in combination with chemometrics resulted in a high classification rate of 86.5 % for the combination of volatiles plus color, 89.2 % for the combination of VC plus FA, and 91.9 % for the combination of FA composition plus color plus CQP.