"The analysis of volatile compounds in support of the panel test"

Re-elected for the third time president of the Assitol olive oil group, Anna Cane (in the picture) immediately wanted to bring to the attention of the sector a theme particularly dear to the industrial world: that of officially validate a method for accurately and analytically determining volatile compounds in extra virgin olive oils, method to be combined with the sensory analysis of the panel tests. Not that the latter is not effective, for heaven's sake, so much so that she herself specifies it: "We reiterate the centrality of sensory analysis, however this method needs to be strengthened, and volatile compounds represent the ideal tool".
Volatile compounds are, as known, molecules that our sensory receptors identify, and whose presence can be decoded through precise chemical parameters. In this way, the flavor profile contained in the extra virgin olive oil, thereby certifying it authenticity and genuineness. The analysis of volatile compounds could therefore become the litmus test of sensory analysis, the "Var" to support the classification of olive oils. “The tool has proved to be very useful – he confirms the president of entrepreneurs – because it manages to determine hundreds of molecules responsible for the sensory profile of oils. The panel test remains essential, but with this 'extra ally', it would be even stronger and more effective in quality control of extra virgin olive oil. We were the first to believe it, when there was still a lot of skepticism around this new hypothesis supporting the panel test, and today the results prove us right".
The results are what a special "task force", made up of different companies, achieved by evaluating the application of the new dosing system of volatile compounds on samples of different cultivars and olive growing campaigns, then also confronted with the researchers of a European project coordinated by the University of Bologna. “We have studied them using them in the daily practice of companies, which analyze hundreds of oils every year – clarifies the reconfirmation of the president – ​​and the survey shows that this is the most suitable system to support sensory analysis in the classification of oils. We need to arrive as soon as possible to a method validated at an institutional and international level".
The prospects are interesting. Between quality oils and oils openly defective, there is in fact a wide range of borderline oils, perhaps "promoted" by one panel and rejected by the other (often from different countries), or which in December are classified as extra virgin and already in May, positioned on the shelves for too long, with parameters that expire at virgin. Precisely define an official threshold for the various volatile compounds and also have more information on the shelf lifecertainly could be of help to the sector, trying to level the extra virgin olive oil upwards and help bring the price back up to the shelf, to the benefit of everyone.