SPECTROMETRIC ANALYSES (PTR-TOF-MS) TO CHARACTERIZE MONOVARIETAL AND BLENDED EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OILS

Monovarietal and blended extra virgin olive oil samples were obtained from 4 autochthonous Tuscan cultivars of Olea Europaea L., and two non-autochthonous ones. All cultivars were grown in Tuscany. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were analyzed non-destructively using a PTR-ToF-MS approach, which allows getting a genuine definition of olive oil aromatic profiles thanks to the absence of pre-treatment of the samples. The analytical approach allowed to identify the volatomic of each monovarietal or blended oil under study, and to determine those VOCs influencing the quality and the merceological class of the product (extra virgin or virgin olive oil, EVOO or VOO).