AUTHENTICATION OF EUROPEAN VIRGIN OLIVE OILS BY THEIR CHEMICAL-COMPOUNDS, SENSORY ATTRIBUTES, AND CONSUMERS ATTITUDES

Twenty-four samples of four European virgin olive oil varieties-Arbequ ina, Coratina, Koroneiki, and Picual, cultivated in Greece, Italy, and Spain-have been analyzed from their chemical composition (either nonv olatile compounds (31)-fatty acids, sterols, alcohols, and methylstero ls-or volatile ones (65)-aldehydes, alcohols, furans, hydrocarbons, ac ids, ketones, and esters), sensory attributes (103), and consumers' at titudes, the latter in terms of their overall acceptability and sensor y comments from their acceptability trials. The paper describes and ex plains the most remarkable of these parameters characterizing the virg in olive oil varieties, which can be useful in virgin olive oil authen tication. The agreement between the concentration of chemical compound s and sensory attributes is explained wherever possible.