The Potential of Virgin Olive Oil from cv. Chondrolia Chalkidikis and Chalkidiki (Greece) to Bear Health Claims according to the European Legislation

Abstract

The European food legislation authorizes the use of certain health claims based on a scientific basis. This study aimed to evaluate the fatty acid, tocopherol, and polar phenol composition of virgin olive oil (VOO) from cv. Chondrolia Chalkidikis and Chalkidiki regarding the fulfillment of official requirements for the health claims of ‘oleic acid’, ‘vitamin E’, and ‘olive oil polyphenols’. The examination of representative industrial VOOs from 15 olive mills of the Chalkidiki regional unit showed that the two cultivars yield oils contained the necessary concentrations of the responsible bioactive compounds. This evidence was further substantiated by a four harvest study whereby olives from different maturity stages were sampled from three olive groves. Oils were extracted at a laboratory scale and examined for their content in the above-mentioned three categories of constituents. Oils produced at industrial scale from olives harvested on the ‘technological optimum’ stage according to the olive grove proprietor were also analyzed. Extra virgin olive oil of the studied cultivars can safely bear the generic claims for ‘oleic acid’ and ‘vitamin E’. The cultivars present great potential regarding the total hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol content of the extracted oil required to attain the third health claim that may be influenced negatively by manufacturing practices.

On the Squalene Content of CV Chondrolia Chalkidikis and Chalkidiki (Greece) Virgin Olive Oil

“…For SQ-HPLC analysis, acetonitrile (HPLC, 99.9%), methyl acetate (HPLC, 99.8%), and acetone (HPLC, 99.8%) were obtained from ChemLab (Zeldegem, Belgium); n -hexane (proanalysis) was from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany) and absolute ethanol was from Riedel de Haën (Seelze, Germany). Other standards, solvents, reagents, and chromatographic materials were of the appropriate grade from various suppliers and have been described in detail in our recent article [ 18 ]. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane filters (0.22 µm) and cellulose acetate membrane filters (0.45 µm) were from Schleicher & Schuell, (Dassel, Germany).…”

“…The sampling zone is shown in Supplementary Materials Map S1 . Table S1 shows relevant metadata for the 15 olive mills and Table S2 shows the quality and compositional data reported earlier in [ 18 ] for the same samples. In the harvesting years 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, and 2020/21, olives (cv.…”

“…VOOs were extracted under cold conditions using an Abencor laboratory olive mill (MC2, Ingenierías y Sistemas, Seville, Spain). Exact details for the sampling design at different maturity stages can be found in [ 18 ] together with data for oil yield and quality characteristics of the oils obtained. Briefly, 10 olive trees in the center of each OG were selected in terms of their similar fruit load and fruit maturity index (MI).…”

“…2568/91 and its amendments [ 29 ]. Moreover, alpha-tocopherol (α-T) content, total polar phenol (TPP) content, and total Htyr and Tyr content were determined using the materials and methods described in [ 18 ]. Briefly, the normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method was used for the determination of α-T after sample dilution in n -hexane/2-propanol (99:1 v/v ).…”

“…In a previous study [ 18 ], we documented Greek VOO cv Chondrolia Chalkidikis and Chalkidiki as a product that can be marketed using three health claims authorized by the EU legislation for this precious natural juice (i.e., for ‘oleic acid’ (C18:1), ‘vitamin E’, and ‘polyphenols’). Health claims are a legal tool (Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006) [ 19 ] that help the promotion of high-quality VOOs among informed consumers.…”