An Overview of Portuguese Olive Oils and Table Olives with Protected Designation of Origin

Abstract

Over the years, consumers’ interest in the diet and health relationship has increased with a demand for high quality foods. To protect consumers, but also producers from unfair practices, European Union (EU) has launched legislation on different EU quality schemes, namely Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indications (PGI), and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG). This work provides an overview of research concerning Portuguese PDO olive oils and table olives. EU quality schemes applied to agricultural products and foodstuffs are increasing over the years, Portugal being the fourth European country with the highest percentage of registered foods. Up to now, Portugal has registered six olive oils and two table olives as PDO. There is a lack of physicochemical data for Portuguese PDO olive products, especially for table olives. Nonetheless, differences linked to the origin of the olive oils are reported, including within the same region of origin. For instance, a range between 95.9 and 260 mg kg−1 for α‐tocopherol was reported for PDO Azeite de Trás‐os‐Montes, while for PDO Azeites do Norte Alentejano it varied from 92.6 to 198 mg kg−1. Further studies, especially concerning parameters that allow confirming the authenticity and origin of Portuguese PDO olive oils and table olives, are crucial. Practical Applications: Six olive oils and two table olives from Portugal are already registered with PDO. Phytochemical data for these products is scarce. Further studies to evaluate authenticity are needed. Of the table olives and olive oils already registered with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), there are eight products belonging to the five main regions of Portugal (Trás‐os Montes, Beira Litoral, Beira Interior, Ribatejo, and Alentejo). Furthermore, these PDO products are linked to the history and cultural heritage of these places, being crucial for some local producers and for consumers.

A Comparative Analysis of Soil Loss Tolerance and Productivity of the Olive Groves in the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Areas Norte Alentejano (Portugal) and Estepa (Andalusia, Spain)

“…The area has a hotsummer Mediterranean climate, with an average temperature of 16.3 • C and an average annual rainfall of 582 mm, with gentle slopes and an altitude between 200 and 600 m above sea level (m.a.s.l.). Olive groves are spatially scattered within a landscape mosaic dominated by cork oak and holm oak wood pastures [13,29,[32][33][34]. The soils in which olive trees are grown have a depth of up to 150 cm, with loam or sandy-loam textures, being mainly calcareous and highly susceptible to erosion [35,36].…”

“…Olive trees are hereby gown on loam and calcareous soils of great depth (i.e., 30-150 cm), with a planting density of 100-500 trees ha −1 [24,31]. From a geological point of view, calcareous soils (i.e., Albariza type) predominate, with a low water absorption capacity together with a medium-high mechanical resistance, being highly susceptible to laminar erosion (i.e., losses of over 35 t ha −1 year −1 of soil) [6,29]. This fact results in a uniform soil loss where materials are dragged from the edaphic surface, generating gullies in the territory, threatening the sustainability of the olive grove [20,28].…”

“…Considering the socio-cultural and economic relevance of olive groves in the Iberian Peninsula, and the differences in their management models and legislation between Spain and Portugal, a comparative study was carried out which compares a Portuguese olive grove with European certification and previous studies carried out in an olive grove of a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in Southern Spain. In Portugal, the study area was the PDO Norte Alentejano, with a surface of approximately 1350 ha of olive groves largely managed in either traditional, integrated, or intensive ways, and an annual total production of 170 tons (t) of olive oil [13,29]. In Spain, a comparison was made with PDO Estepa (Seville, Andalusia, Spain), which hosts almost 40,000 ha of olive groves and a production of 30,000 t of oil per year [30].…”

Authentication of Greek PDO Kalamata Table Olives: A Novel Non-Target High Resolution Mass Spectrometric Approach

“…The processing of the Californian and Spanish olives requires treatment with a diluted aqueous NaOH solution that changes the initial phenolic fingerprint of the drupe by hydrolyzing the bitter glucoside of oleuropein [ 9 ]. On the contrary, the production of the Greek-style table olives is more natural and does not involve the use of chemicals, apart from brine [ 9 , 10 ].…”

“…Performing a thorough search of the literature makes it evident that there have been extensive studies concerning the authentication of Italian [ 15 ], Tunisian [ 16 ], Turkish [ 17 ], Portuguese [ 10 ], and Spanish [ 18 , 19 ] PDO and PGI table olives. The current state-of-the-art technology for the determination of bioactive constituents in foods has also been reviewed recently [ 20 ].…”