Predictive study on Tuscan extra virgin olive oil stability under several commercial conditions

Industries aim to ensure extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) stability especially during commercial activities up to use by end consumers. The objective of this work was to set up predictive models of EVOO stability during commerci al activities. Stability was studied on five lots of a batch of Tuscan virg in olive oil to simulate different commercial activities. Chemical, physica l, and sensory analyses were carried out on EVOO samples. Experimental data were processed by multivariate analyses to select significant parameters a nd by regression analyses to set up kinetic models. A few parameters were f ound to be significant: hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol contents, carotenoid abs orbance at 475 and 448 nm, alpha-tocopherol content, Rancimat induction tim e, and K-232 It was also shown that the stability of this EVOO was not sign ificantly influenced by different uncontrolled bottling, transport, and sto rage conditions in supermarkets. Empirical models were set up to predict th e time to reach a reference value for K-232.