IRON CONTENT AND COLOR OF RIPE OLIVES

Long storage periods, pitting of the olives and higher levels of ferro us gluconate yielded higher iron absorption in the flesh and better co louration. For the same iron content in flesh, some treatment combinat ions could yield a darker product, revealing the need to optimize proc essing conditions rather than just increasing the levels of iron in th e packing brine. A high iron-binding capacity in the olive flesh leads to an accumulation of this cation in the fruits instead of reaching j ust an equilibrium as happens with other ions (Na+, K+, Cl-, etc.) and organic acids. This leads to the hypothesis that iron, in addition to its effect upon colour, might play a role in the ripe olive texture s imilarly to other divalent cations like Ca++. Iron content was always far below the limit fixed by the 'COI/CODEX International Regulations for Table Olives', suggesting the possibility of a diminution in this limit.