Phenolic Compounds and Fatty Acid Content of Some Extra Virgin Olive Oils from North-West of Argentina (La Rioja)

Abstract

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is one of the most important vegetable oils from aneconomic and nutritional point of view. The health properties and oxidative stability of thisoil depend on its chemical composition. However, these attributes are affected by the typeof cultivar and the climate in which the olive trees are grown. This study was carried out todetermine the fatty acid composition (FA) and the amount of polyphenols (PT) includinghydroxytyrosol (HT) in 4 EVOO obtained from ‘Coratina’, ‘Arbequina’, ‘Barnea’ and oil blend(‘Barnea’ and ‘Arbequina’) varietals grown in a semi-arid region of northwestern Argentina.The ‘Coratina’ variety had a high oleic acid content (72.875%), and a higher monounsaturatedand polyunsaturated fatty acids (MUFA/PUFA) ratio. PT values were significantly higherfor the blend (280 mg/kg) than for ‘Arbequina’ (268 mg kg-1), ‘Barnea’ (248 mg kg-1) and‘Coratina’ (210 mg kg-1). The HT content ranged from 3 mg kg-1 oil (‘Arbequina’) to 0.6 mgkg-1 oil (Blend). It is evident that all the oils analyzed contain nutritionally important elementswhich are determined by the varietal component of each one of them, and to a lesser extentby the soil and climatic conditions of the production region. These data could be useful tofacilitate the selection of olive varieties planted in this semi-arid region, capable of producingEVOO with distinctive signs and better food quality.