EFSA Health Claims-Based Virgin Olive Oil Shelf-Life.

The consumption of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has been linked to various health benefits, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. EVOO contains triglycerides and unsaturated fatty acids, as well as minor compounds, such as polar phenols and tocopherols, which play a crucial nutritional and biological role. The composition of these minor compounds is affected by various factors that distinguish EVOOs from lower-quality olive oils. The European Parliament approved Regulation 1924/2006 that governs the use of health claims on food products based on EFSA reports. Currently, there are several authorized health claims related to unsaturated fatty acids, vitamin E, and polyphenol content that can be used for commercial reasons on EVOO labels. Consumers can easily take enough grams of EVOO per day to receive the beneficial effects of the nutrient in question; nevertheless, the use of these health claims is subject to a required concentration of specific nutrients throughout the shelf life of olive oil. Few studies have examined the evolution of these compounds along the shelf life of EVOO to meet health claims. This work aims to evaluate the nutritional profile of several EVOOs with potential health claims and the evolution of related nutrients during storage in darkness at different temperatures. This study proposes an accelerated method to determine the end of the EVOO shelf life based on the loss of its nutraceutical capacity and the inability to comply with the stated health claims.

Modelling Virgin Olive Oil Potential Shelf-Life from Antioxidants and Lipid Oxidation Progress.

The development of effective shelf-life prediction models is extremely important for the olive oil industry. This research is the continuation of a previous accelerated shelf-life test at mild temperature (40-60 °C), applied in this case to evaluate the oxidation effect of temperature on minor components (phenols, tocopherol, pigments) to properly complete a shelf-life predictive model. The kinetic behaviour of phenolic compounds, α-tocopherol and pigments during storage of different virgin olive oil samples at different temperatures (25-60 °C) is reported. Hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol and α-tocopherol fitted to pseudo-zero-order kinetics, whereas secoiridoid derivatives of hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol, o-diphenols and total phenols apparently followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. The temperature-dependent kinetic of phenolic compounds and α-tocopherol were well described by the linear Arrhenius model. The apparent activation energy was calculated. Principal component analysis was used to transform the considered compositional and degradation variables into fewer uncorrelated principal components resulting in 4: "no oxidizable substrate", "initial oxidation state and conditions", "free simple phenols", and "degradation rates". In addition, multivariate linear regression was used to yield several modelling equations for shelf-life prediction, considering initial composition and experimental variables easily determined in accelerated storage.

Antioxidant capacity of individual and combined virgin olive oil minor compounds evaluated at mild temperature (25 and 40°C) as compared to accelerated and antiradical assays.

The individual and combined antioxidant and antiradical capacity of the main minor compounds of virgin olive oil (α-tocopherol, hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol and oleuropein aglycone) spiked in Purified Olive Oil (POO) as the lipid matrix model is described. The antioxidant activity was assessed under mild temperature conditions (25 and 40°C) to mimic the autoxidation process during real storage conditions. These results were compared with accelerated (Rancimat Induction Period) and antiradical (DPPH) tests. The higher concentration of o-diphenols (hydroxytyrosol or oleuropein aglycone) in olive oil led to a lower oxidation rate under the conditions studied, resulting in a strong antioxidant effect. Remarkably α-tocopherol acted as a pro-oxidant at 25 and 40°C, in particular during the first oxidation stage. In contrast, this compound behaved as an antioxidant under Rancimat and DPPH conditions. The oxidation rate constant as a function of the concentration of spiked compound fit an exponential decay model very well and therefore the progress of the oxidation reaction could be predicted. No synergistic or antagonistic effects were generally observed when combined antioxidant compounds were assayed.

Comparative study of virgin olive oil behavior under Rancimat accelerated oxidation conditions and long-term room temperature storage.

Oxidative stability should be one of the most important quality markers of edible oils; nevertheless, it is not recognized as a legal parameter. The results reported in this study highlight the differences in the olive oil oxidation process under Rancimat accelerated conditions with respect to long-term storage at room temperature and clearly show the lack of correlation between shelf life and the Rancimat induction period. A better correlation, although not yet satisfactory, was found when the same oxidation end-point was used in both assays. The parameter K 270, a marker of secondary oxidation products, was the first index to reach the established upper legal limit under Rancimat conditions, whereas at 25 degrees C it was an index of primary oxidation products ( K 232). Furthermore, the ratio of oxidation rate at Rancimat conditions to oxidation rate at 25 degrees C was more than double for secondary oxidation products compared with primary ones. Notable differences were also observed in degradation rates of the different unsaturated fatty acids and in rates of formation of polar oxidation compounds. Moreover, under the Rancimat conditions antioxidants such as o-diphenols and alpha-tocopherol rapidly depleted, and when they had practically disappeared, there was a sharp increase in oxidation indices, such as peroxide value, and in oxidation products. At 25 degrees C, on the other hand, the depletion was much lower.

Retention effects of oxidized polyphenols during analytical extraction of phenolic compounds of virgin olive oil.

The hydrophilic extract of virgin olive oil contains several phenolic compounds such as simple phenols, lignans, and secoiridoids that have been widely studied in recent years. Interest in the hydrophilic extract has also been extended to the fraction of oxidized phenols that form during storage as a consequence of oxidative stress. The present investigation compares the two most commonly used extraction methods, namely liquid-liquid extraction and SPE, on fresh virgin olive oil and that kept at different temperatures in the presence of oxygen to promote the formation of oxidative products. The selective retention of these natural and oxidized phenolic compounds in relation to the extraction method was assessed. Quantification of eight identified phenolic molecules and 11 unknown peaks was performed by HPLC-DAD/MSD.