The aim of the experiment, still ongoing, is to provide a fast and at the same time objective and reliable tool, designed for the oil industry and which reduces the margin of human error in the evaluation, allowing to detect any oil defects, to do Shelf life forecasts (“shelf life”), of to optimize and standardize the mixing of oils (“blending”).
The project is funded with over 700.000 euros. During the presentation it was said that this project represents a significant innovation for the entire supply chain – composed of 619.000 olive oil companies and more than 4.300 active oil mills – offering the Italian oil industry advanced technological tools to improve quality control and successfully face international competition.
The integrated solution (instrumental system and data processing via Artificial intelligence) is added to the official method currently in use for the evaluation of the organoleptic qualities of extra virgin olive oil, based on sensory evaluations conducted by expert tasters and therefore with an intrinsic limited quantitative capacity for analysis and consequent "bottleneck" in quality control during production.
What does the legislation say?
Once the oil mill has received the extra virgin olive oil (Evoo) of the requested category from the supplier, under self-control (HACCP), the product is routinely analysed by the internal laboratory according to the chemical/physical parameters required by law regarding quality and authenticity, but for Evoo an organoleptic evaluation is also necessary. In fact, extra virgin olive oil is the only food product for which an organoleptic evaluation is required by law for the purposes of product classification..
The determination of the organoleptic characteristics is carried out by a panel of experts. On the basis of this last determination, the direction for the subsequent phases of the process is decided: For these reasons sensory analysis is fundamental throughout the production process, from the acceptance of raw materials to the composition of the oil mixtures (“blended”).
In concrete terms, what does the project consist of?
The technology is based on the combination of highly sensitive techniques, in particular Gas Chromatography with Ion Mobility Spectrometry (GC-IMS) for the chemical analysis of the volatile components of the oil, and a dedicated application for data processing.
Il software is “educated” and “trained” to learn to recognize the quality of the oil by qualified tasting panels as regards the organoleptic characteristics: the more tests are carried out, the more the “machine” improves and refines its analytical capacity; this is why the “training” phase is fundamental.
In particular, Olitalia took care of the sampling of the oils and the collection of the analytical data, making available the experience of its laboratory and its tasting panel (recognised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty), while Lab Service Analytica has made available the resources for IT development and further contributions for the analytical and sensory evaluation part.
Who is it for?
Olive oil companies, control bodies, third-party laboratories are the potential beneficiaries. “This project is perfectly in line with Olitalia and brings value to a sector that has historically been recognized as not very innovative. - he has declared Angelo Cremonini, President of Olitalia -. A revolution for the entire oil industry, offering producers an advanced tool to optimize processes and improve oil quality. The project responds to growing international competition on production costs, introducing an innovative and objective quality control system, capable of supporting the official method based on sensory tests. We are proud to be an active part of this initiative, together with an excellent partner like Lab Service Analytica, because today the supply chain needs certainty. Eliminating the margin of human error means giving entrepreneurs the tools necessary to make decisions based on objective data.”
