Published sensory profiles of 24 Italian varieties
admin | November 28, 2010Recently I came across a couple of interesting research papers reporting the sensory and fatty acid profiles of a number of Italian varieties – some are well known to those outside of their native range, while others were rather obscure.
The first paper by Rotondi et al. (2010) profiled 489 commercial olive oils declared as monovarietal by the producer were sampled and profiled by a trained sensory panel. Fatty acid profiles were also determined.
The following varieties and regions were profiled.
Bosana-Sardegna (n=82) : Carolea-Calabria (n=21) : Coratina-Puglia (n=49) : Frantoio-Marche, Lazio, Toscana, Umbria (n= 67) : Itrana-Lazio (n=55) : Leccino-Abruzzo, Marche, Toscana, Umbria (n= 59) : Moraiolo-Toscana, Umbria (n= 53) : Peranzana-Puglia (n=27) : Piantone Di Mogliano-Marche (n=34) : Ravece-Campania (n=42)
A limitation of this research was that the resultant profiles were an ‘average’ profile of oils from different regions and presumably different ripeness. As maturity at harvest significantly influences the sensory characteristics of extra virgin olive oil, an ‘average’ profile may not make a lot of sense. However, if you presume that most of the oils were picked in the green to turning stage, and that the sensory profile of a variety doesn’t vary greatly between regions then the profiles may be pretty good representations of the varieties.
The earlier study by Tura et al. (2008) was carried out over 4 growing seasons from 8 varieties grown in the same grove on the west coast of Lake Gardia in Northern Italy. With an annual average temperature of 13.6C and rainfall of 940mm, it would be fair to say that the climatic conditions under which the olive were grown weren’t typically ‘Mediterranean’.
Both papers gave the profiles as large complex tables. I’ve taken the liberty of graphically representing their results. Here they are….
Aroma Profile of Italian Varieties Data Source: Rotondi et al. (2010)
Bitterness and Pungency of Italian varieites: Data Source Rotondi et al. (2010)
Fatty acid profile of Italian Varieties– Percentages given: Data Source Rotondi et al. (2010)
And the profiles of Tura et al. (2008)
Flavour profile of Italian varieties(1): Data source: Tura et al. (2008)
Flavour profile of Italian varieties(2): Data source: Tura et al. (2008)
Flavour profile of Italian varieties(3): Data source: Tura et al. (2008)
Taste profile of Italian varieties(1): Data source: Tura et al. (2008)
Taste profile of Italian varieties(2): Data source: Tura et al. (2008)
Taste profile of Italian varieties(3): Data source: Tura et al. (2008)
References:
Rotondi, A., Alfel, B., Magli, M. and Pannelli, G. (2010) Influence of genetic matrix and crop year on chemical and sensory profiles of Italian monovarietal extra-virgin olive oils. J Sci Food Agric. 90: 2641–2648.
Tura, D., Failla, O., Bassi, D., Pedo, S. and Serraiocco, A. (2008) Influence on virgin olive (Olea europea L.) oil flavor based on aromatic compounds and sensorial profile. Scientia Horticulturae, 118, 139-148.