No abstract

During the last 6 years, Tunisia has contributed to 7.5% of the total world olive oil production with an average of 224.16 thousand tons and has been ranked second after the European Union (IOC, 2020).Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a staple for most Mediterranean countries as it is a potential source of bioactive compounds, mainly tocopherols (De Bruno et al., 2020). This olive fruit juice is obtained using only mechanical processes. Its flavor and nutritional and healthy properties make it unique among other edible fats and oils,

This research was conducted to evaluate consumer preferences of seven extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs) from foreign and Tunisian cultivars. Two studies were carried out. The first is a comparative physicochemical characterization of the VOOs tasted by the consumers. The second is a consumer survey where each consumer tasted each VOO six times. Using simple linear regressions, we have performed a new method that gives a pairwise comparison between the oils. It revealed that Coratina and Chetoui cultivars were the most preferred revealing by the high concentration of polyphenols with 468 and 525 ppm, respectively, and Arbequina was the less preferred with 182 ppm. We have then performed a principal component analysis on the data composed by the physicochemical parameters that highly discriminate between cultivars. The latter showed important differences between the most and the less preferred oils and that oxidative stability, palmitic, palmitoleic, oleic, and linoleic fatty acids, triacylglycerol, β-carotene, and polyphenols seem to be the principal-choice drivers for consumers.