This study was conducted in crop season of 2018 and the olive fruits from three Turkish varieties Saurani, Karamani and Halhalı under the same pedoclimatic conditions (with no irrigation and no fertilization) were assessed. Oil content, fatty acid, and sterol compositions of three monovarietal 'Halhalı', 'Karamani', and 'Saurani' virgin olive oils were examined at green, spotted and ripe olives. The oil content of olives ranges between 23.77-34.77% and the highest oil yield was observed in the ripe Karamani variety. In terms of fatty acids, the lowest oleic acid values were found in the ripe period of Karamani variety (59.78%), and the highest oleic acid values in the green period of Halhalı variety (69.97%). The oleic and palmitic acid contents decreased, while linoleic and stearic acid contents increased with olive ripening. Total sterol amounts of olive oils varied between 946-1782 mg/kg and showed a significant increase with ripening (p < 0.05). The highest β-sitosterol amount was detected in the green period of Saurani variety (91.66%), and the lowest β-sitosterol amount in the spotted period of Halhalı variety (86.16%). The highest ∆ 5 -avenasterol amounts were detected in the ripe period of Saurani variety (6.54%), the lowest ∆ 5 -avenasterol amounts were detected in the green period of Halhalı variety (2.36%). Total β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and erythrodiol+uvaol contents of olive oils are changed with ripening. Accordingly, these results showed that fatty acid and sterol compositions can be used as indicators of variety and ripening degree among monovarietal virgin olive oils.

In this study, the quality criteria and sensory properties of olive oil samples of Saurani, Karamani and Halhali olive varieties collected in 3 different harvest times from Hatay province were investigated depending on the variety and harvest time. For this purpose, in olives; oil yield and ripening index, in the obtained olive oils; free fatty acids, peroxide number, UV specific absorbance and sensory properties were determined. The oil content of olives ranges between 23.77-34.77% and the highest oil yield was determined in the olive variety, Karamani (3rd maturity). In olive oils, free fatty acids were found in the range of 0.33-1.02% (oleic acid), K232 values ranging between 0.33-0.88, K270 values ranging between 0.004-0.177 and peroxide numbers between 2.47-8.40 meq O2/kg. The total phenolic content values of olive oils vary between 156.78-584.25 mg GAE/kg, and the highest phenolic content was determined during the first harvest of the Halhali variety. It was determined that the amount of phenolic content of the cultivars decreased with maturity. In the sensory analysis of olive oil samples, fruitiness was determined as greater than 0 by all panelists. The median of fruitiness in olive oil samples ranged from 3.62 to 5.88, and the median of fruitiness decreased with maturity in all varieties. The median of bitterness ranged from 2.62-5.23 and decreased with maturity. The pungency median varied in the range of 3.12-5.34, and pungency was reduced with maturity. The median of fruitiness, bitterness and pungency of Halhali olive oil was determined the highest.