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Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) Sourcing


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MMM...., Kalamon organic, with 3325 ppm is a really huge value, almost too good to be true. Has it been measured by the HPLC method? Has it been double, treble-checked? It's thrice the Torre Di Mossa concentration which we have discussed so many times. I'll try and get more info from the site.

Also, why 2017 production? In my place the first olives are harvested in October-November. Maybe they've been harvested prematurely with the specific purpose to increase the polyphenols.

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OK, the mistery is cleared. As specified by the site:

 

Each brand is certified for its phenolic profile by NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance)
at the World Olive Center for Health (WOC)  in Athens.

 

 

As per previous discussion with Gordo, NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance, used by Melliou and Magiatis of Athens Univeristy, Greece) apparently yields much higher PC values than HPLC (Hi performance liquid chromatography, the industry standard) so those values are not comparable to the usual values we comment. The PC values are surely very high, but we lack a reference here. Also, Melliou and Magiatis determined that PC is higher in early harvests, so these are oils which have been probably harvested just a short while ago.

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The Aristoleo site also portrays some wild olive oils which make me curious. The analysed samples don't have huge amounts of PC, so I wonder what may be the advantage, probably some other hormetic compounds, unknown or little known. The one below is from the Volvi estate in Thessaloniki.

This wild EVOO issue may take our orthorexia to another insane level, LOL.

 

post-7347-0-01172000-1505653132_thumb.jpg

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This is the lab results of the Drop of life EVOO from 2012, when the NMR method was not developed yet, so this is most probably HPLC, the current industry standard.

 

PC 2012 HPLC = 554 ppm

PC 2016 NMR =  3076 ppm

 

post-7347-0-06468700-1505671244_thumb.jpg

 

The NMR concentration is about six times the HPLC concentration, whereas the annual variability in content across the different harvests is probably much, much less, other conditiosn being equal .

 

So Torre Di Mossa 2016 harvest would appear to be still #1 in PC.

 

One interesting aspect of the above is that, if NMR is really a more sensitive method for polyphenols analysis, then it turns out that poly content in EVOO is actually much higher than previously believed when using exclusively the HPCL method. That is, the benefits of EVOO would be related to a very high content in specific phenolic compounds like the secoridoids.

 

Also, a far lesser amount than 24 grams would be needed to reap the healthy benefits.

 

I didn't focus on the oleocanthal issue, another favourite topic of Melliou and Magiatis.

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First, the standard method for total phenolics is neither HPLC nor NMR, but a colorimetric assay using Folin–Ciocalteu reagent. I doubt that a simple fold-factor mutiplication can be used to convert polyphenol count as measured by HPLC or NMR, and I am quite sure you can't do so to get from either to the standard colotimetric assay. Either one will certainly report many times larger numbers, however.

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Michael, as I noticed in research papers they always cite the HPLC, but after your post I searched and noticed that the spectrophotometric method or GE method or Folin-Ciocalteu is cited pretty often in lab analyses.

So, there appears to be some indetermination and the common industry standard woudl be the one you cite.

 

This makes it more difficult to make comparisons, especially if the analytical method is not mentioned. We'd have to evaluate whether the value comes from commercial labs (GAE method), university labs (probably HPLC) or recent labs which apply the NMR method (Only Greece?).

 

Most probably the Amphora Nueva values are all comparable among them, since they have only one reference lab to test their EVOOs, AFAIK

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Michael, as I noticed in research papers they always cite the HPLC, but after your post I searched and noticed that the spectrophotometric method or GE method or Folin-Ciocalteu is cited pretty often in lab analyses.

So, there appears to be some indetermination and the common industry standard woudl be the one you cite.

 

This makes it more difficult to make comparisons, especially if the analytical method is not mentioned. We'd have to evaluate whether the value comes from commercial labs (GAE method), university labs (probably HPLC) or recent labs which apply the NMR method (Only Greece?).

 

Most probably the Amphora Nueva values are all comparable among them, since they have only one reference lab to test their EVOOs, AFAIK

 

I agree with you that there are serious limitations to F-C: none the less, I am quite sure that it's the standard way of doing this, both in industry and in research, for simple low cost and rapidity reasons.

 

By "GE method," I take it you mean "gallic-equivalent" mehtod: that's just a variation on F-C. As I mentioned here and here, you always have to report phenolic counts per F-C as against a standard: gallic-, caffeic-, or tyrosol-equivalents are most common, tho' others use syringic acid, etc. Tyrosol-equivalents, which is the most common way of reporting it commercially, tends to exaggerate the count vs. caffeic- or gallic-equivalents by roughly 20%.

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Sibiriak, I just read a communication from the local Agricultural agency, in my place (central Italy) this year the harvest is foreseen from the end of September to the beginning of October, so it should hit the market by half-October beginning of November. It also depends on geographic and climatic areas and different varieties. I'm going to start asking around this week and shall let you know.

 

Central and southern Italy have been hit by freeze and drought this year and the snowfall broken many limbs of, or whole olive trees. We'll see if all these stresses contribute to a higher concentration of phenolic compounds.

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  • 5 weeks later...

For Sibiriak and all the interested ones:

 

I just got my first batch of the new harvest EVOO. Olives picked in an inland hillside grove, October 10, squeezed the day after, processed to maximize polyphenol content. I've yet to taste it.

 

I also called De Carlo, they are going to harvest the Torre Di Mossa later on, end of November, beginning of December.

 

It is interesting to notice the remarkable difference in harvesting times in two geographical areas which are relatively close.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...
Guest André

Has anyone tried the Dehesa de la Sabina? It's pretty reasonable with free shipping, and they say 2017 harvest tested at 738 mg/kg polyphenols.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GUL8G8Q?th=1(if anyone does try it, please let me know how it is and how it compares to some amphoranueva oils)

Dehesa de la Sabia is a wonderfull product. An early harvest, more for quality, than profit, from a group of dedicated olive grove lovers who have restored an eco-system to their groves and achieved excellence in best In Class and Gold Awards.

 

These stewards of the land should be admired by every producer of real EVOO. I love this oil, its producers and its attitude toward nature.

 

Many corporate fake oil producers are put to shame by this excellent organic EVOO.

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