Olives and Olive Oil as Functional Foods is the first comprehensive reference on the science of olives and olive oil. While the main focus of the book is on the fruit’s renowned health-sustaining properties, it also provides an in-depth coverage of a wide range of topics of vital concern to producers and researchers, including post-harvest handling, packaging, analysis, sensory evaluation, authentication, waste product utilization, global markets, and much more.
People have been cultivating olives for more than six millennia, and olives and olive oil have been celebrated in songs and legends for their life-sustaining properties since antiquity. However, it is only within the last several decades that the unique health benefits of their consumption have become the focus of concerted scientific studies. It is now known that olives and olive oil contain an abundance of phenolic antioxidants, as well as the anti-cancer compounds such as squalene and terpenoids. This centerpiece of the Mediterranean diet has been linked to a greatly reduced risk of heart disease and lowered cancer risk. Bringing together contributions from some of the world’s foremost experts on the subject, this book:-
• Addresses the importance of olives and olive oil for the agricultural economy and the relevance of its bioactive components to human health
• Explores the role that olive oil plays in reducing oxidative stress in cells-a well-known risk factor in human health
• Provides important information about new findings on olive oil and lipids which reviews the latest research
• Explores topics of interest to producers, processors, and researchers, including the fruit’s chemical composition, processing considerations, quality control, safety, traceability, and more
Edited by two scientists world-renowned for their pioneering work on olive oil and human health, this book is an indispensable source of timely information and practical insights for agricultural and food scientists, nutritionists, dieticians, physicians, and all those with a professional interest in food, nutrition, and health.
Contents
Olive tree history and evolution
Botanical characteristics of olive trees: cultivation and growth conditions – defense mechanisms to various stressors and effects on olive growth and functional compounds
Conventional and organic cultivation and their effect on the functional composition of olive oil
The influence of growing region and cultivar on olives and olive oil characteristics and on their functional constituents
Olive fruit and olive oil composition and their functional compounds
Mechanical harvesting of olives
Olive fruit harvest and processing and their effects on oil functional compounds
Application of HACCP and traceability in olive oil mills and packaging units and their effect on quality and functionality
Integrated olive mill waste (OMW) processing toward complete by-product recovery of functional components
Olive oil quality and its relation to the functional bioactives and their properties
Optical nondestructive UV-Vis-NIR-MIR spectroscopic tools and chemometrics in the monitoring of olive oil functional compounds
Oxidative stability and the role of minor and functional components of olive oil
Chemical and sensory changes in olive oil during deep frying
Olive oil packaging: recent developments
Table olives: processing, nutritional, and health implications
Greek-style table olives and their functional value
Food hazards and quality control in table olive processing with a special reference to functional compounds
Improving the quality of processed olives: acrylamide in Californian table olives
Antioxidants of olive oil, olive leaves, and their bioactivit
Composition and analysis of functional components of olive leaves
Production of phenol-enriched olive oil
Olives and olive oil: a Mediterranean source of polyphenols
Bioactive components from olive oil as putative epigenetic modulators
Phenolic compounds of olives and olive oil and their bioavailabilit
Antiatherogenic properties of olive oil glycolipids
Nutritional and health aspects of olive oil and diseases
Lipidomics and health: an added value to olive oil
Analysis of olive oil qualit
Detection of extra virgin olive oil adulteration
Authentication of olive oil based on minor components
New analytical trends for the measurement of phenolic substances of olive oil and olives with significant biological and functional importance related to health claim
DNA fingerprinting as a novel tool for olive and olive oil authentication, traceability, and detection of functional compounds
Sensory properties and evaluation of virgin olive oils
International standards and legislative issues concerning olive oil and table olives and the nutritional, functional, and health claims related
The functional olive oil market: marketing prospects and opportunities
Olive culture is rapidly growing in terms of both production volume and geographical spread. The crop is now grown in countries not traditionally associated with its cultivation, although in such countries olive culture is not yet economically significant. Furthermore, climatic changes have resulted in the expansion of olive culture to areas more northerly than the Mediterranean countries. The olive is not only a significant food source but it also contributes to human health, with olive products representing an important part of the Mediterranean Diet, which an increasing number of people all over the world are embracing for reasons of health.
Olives is the result of many years' endeavours in collecting valuable information from the existing literature concerning the olive tree and its culture; a proportion of this information, and experience, has originated from scientific projects of the author and his scientific team. Topics include all aspects of olive culture, from its history, through traditional practices to modern techniques and horticultural procedures. Furthermore, the book covers the basic physiological and horticultural principles of olive culture in both theory and practice.
Contents
History of Olive Growing
The Olive: Origin & Classification
Morphology & Taxonomy of the Olive
Structure & Composttion of the Olive Fruit
Hectareage, Number of Trees and Production of Olive Oil and Table Olives
Rootstocks
Major Trends in Olive Farming Systems
Climatic and Soil Conditions
Flower Bud Induction and Differentiation
Flowering, Pollination, Fertilization and Fruiting
Alternate Bearing
Fruit Thinning
Systems of Planting and Canopy Training
Propagation of Olive Trees
Irrigation of the Olive
Water Use Eefficiency by the Olive
Stress-induced Accumulation of Proline Mannitol
Mineral Nutrition of the Olive
Growth and Salt Tolerance of the Olive
Pruning
Olive Ripening
Olive Fruit Harvesting
Olive Varieties
Table Olives
Olive Oil
Olive Mill Products and Environmental Impact of Olive Oil Production
Oleuropein, Olive Leaf Extract, Olive Oil and the Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet to Human Health
Biological and Integrated Olive Culture
Chemical and Integrated Weed Management in Olive Orchards
Pests and Diseases
Biotechnological Aspects of Olive Culture
According to European legislation, extra virgin is the top grade of olive oils. It has a superior level of health properties and flavour compared to virgin and refined olive oils. Mediterranean countries still produce more than 85% of olive oil globally, but the constant increase of demand for extra virgin olive oil has led to new cultivation and production in other areas of the world, including California, Australia, China, South Africa and South America. At the same time, olive oil’s sensory properties and health benefits are increasingly attracting the attention and interest of nutritionists, food processors, manufacturers and food services. Progress and innovation in olive cultivation, harvesting and milling technologies as well as in oil handling, storage and selling conditions make it possible to achieve even higher quality levels than those stipulated for extra virgin oils. As a consequence, a new segment – excellent extra virgin olive oils – is increasingly attracting the attention of the market and earning consumers’ preference.
The Extra Virgin Olive Oil Handbook provides a complete account of olive oil’s composition, health properties, quality, and the legal standards surrounding its production.
The book is divided into convenient sections focusing on extra virgin olive oil as a product, the process by which it is made, and the process control system through which its quality is assured. An appendix presents a series of tables and graphs with useful data, including conversion factors, and the chemical and physical characteristics of olive oil.
This book is aimed at people involved in the industrial production as well as in the marketing and use of extra virgin olive oil who are looking for practical information, which avoids overly academic language, but which is still scientifically and technically sound. The main purpose of the handbook is to guide operators involved in the extra virgin olive oil chain in making the most appropriate decisions about product quality and operating conditions in the production and distribution processes. To these groups, the most important questions are practical ones of why, how, how often, how much will it cost, and so on. The Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Handbook will provide the right answers to these key practical considerations, in a simple, clear yet precise and up-to-date way.
Contents
Part I : The Product
The extra-virgin olive oil chain
Virgin olive oil: definition and standards
The composition and nutritional properties of extra-virgin olive oil
The sensory quality of extra-virgin olive oil
Olive tree cultivars
The role of oxygen and water in the extra-virgin olive oil process
Extra-virgin olive oil contaminants
Part II : The Process
Olive harvesting
Olive handling, storage and transportation
Olive cleaning
Olive milling and pitting
Olive paste malaxation
Centrifugal separation
Filtration of extra-virgin olive oil
Extra-virgin olive oil storage and handling
Extra-virgin olive oil packaging
The olive oil refining process
Part III : The Process Control System
Process management system
Extra-virgin olive oil traceability
Product and process certification
The hygiene of the olive oil factory
Olive mill waste and by-products
The production cost of extra-virgin olive oil
The culinary uses of extra-virgin olive oil
An introduction to life-cycle assessment
Due to the adverse stress conditions typical of olive cultivation in desert conditions, the olive tree is responding with production of high levels of antioxidant substances. Among these substances are polyphenols, tocopherols, and phytosterols. Studies have shown that saline irrigated varieties of olives have demonstrated advantages over those irrigated with tap water.
This is just one of the aspects of desert cultivation of olives that is covered in Desert Olive Oil Advanced Biotechnologies. Based on 20 years of research, the book expounds on the appropriate selection of olive varieties with high productivity and oil quality, the impact of foliar nutrition on decreasing alternate bearing and increasing fruit quality, improving efficiency of mechanical harvesting, and increasing efficiency of oil extraction and oil quality regulating analysis.
• Addresses olive cultivation methods for semi-arid environments
• Focuses on intensive cultivation using saline and municipal waste recycled irrigation water and their significant impact on the production and nutritional value of olive oil
• Integrated and multidisciplinary approaches providing a comprehensive view of the desert olive industry
• Provides key considerations including ecological, biotechnological, agricultural and political impacts
Part I
Introduction to Desert Olive Oil
The Current Status and Major Trends of the Olive Oil Industry
Why Olive and Desert?
Key Characteristics of Desert Environment
The History of Olive Oil Cultivation in the Desert
Part II
Biotechnologies and Olive Oil Cultivation
Environmental Friendly Desert Agro Biotechnologies
Biotechnologies for Intensive Olive Production in Desert Condition
Use of Desert Suitable Olive Oil Genetic Material
Olive Harvesting Biotechnologies
Oil Extraction and Processing Biotechnologies
Oil Mill Waste: Treatments and Products Biotechnologies
Olive Oil Quality Biotechnologies
Non-conventional use of olive oil industries: Products & Biotechnologies
Part III
Desert Olive Oil Branding
Conventional Desert Olive Oil Cultivation Test Case
Bio-organic Desert Olive Oil Cultivation Test Case
Economical Aspects of Desert Olive Oil Cultivation
Marketing Aspects of Desert Olive Oil Cultivation
Developing New Desert Olive Oil Brand Names
Part IV: Summary
Desert Olive Oil Prospects and concluding remarks
Appendix A: Literature Survey
Appendix B: Photos