Dietary fibre content of table olives processed under different European styles: study of physico-chemical characteristics

Some European varieties of olive fruit (Douro, Hojiblanca, Cassanese, Conse rvolia, Taggiasca, and Thasos), processed under different conditions (black oxidised, fermented in brine or dried by different methods) were analysed, their contents of moisture, fat and dietary fibre being quantified. The pe rcentages of moisture and fat were very different between varieties due to the different processing conditions, although differences between samples o f the same variety were much less. The content of dietary fibre was around 12% of the fresh weight, although in dried samples this percentage increase d to around 20%. Some physico-chemical characteristics (water holding capac ity, cation exchange capacity, and ion retention capacity) were measured. T he water holding capacities were related to moisture content, dry samples h aving the lowest values. Processed olives had very low cation exchange capa city in comparison to other vegetables, exhibiting the same relationship be tween this characteristic and moisture content. Olive fibre retained more i ron than calcium under the assay conditions. (C) 2000 Society of Chemical I ndustry.