Ultrasound assisted maceration: An original procedure for direct aromatisation of olive oil with basil

Aromatisation of olive oil is a new trend in the Mediterranean area, both for sensory and for nutritional improvement. This work presents the development of a green enrichment of an olive oil with basil. In fact instead of a solvent extraction of the aromas, purify them and add them to the olive oil or instead of doing steam distillation prior to add the essential oil into the olive oil, basil leaves were directly put into the olive oil. Ultrasounds were then applied to the mixture in order to accelerate diffusion of the basil volatile compounds into the olive oil. The processing time is reduced from hours or days to few minutes when comparing traditional maceration and ultrasound assisted aromatisation. GC/MS chromatographs have similar profiles between macerated and ultrasounds assisted macerated oils. Concentration of linalool and eugenol were calculated into the aromatised oils and used as indicators of the aromatisation. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.