Effect of Production System (Organic versus Conventional) on Olive Fruit and Oil Yields and Oil Quality Parameters in the Messara Valley, Crete, Greece; Results from a 3-Year Farm Survey

Volakakis, Nikolaos; Kabourakis, Emmanouil; Kiritsakis, Apostolos; Rempelos, Leonidas; Leifert, Carlo

doi:10.3390/agronomy12071484

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Production System (Organic versus Conventional) on Olive Fruit and Oil Yields and Oil Quality Parameters in the Messara Valley, Crete, Greece; Results from a 3-Year Farm Survey

by

Nikolaos Volakakis

^1,2,3,*,

Emmanouil Kabourakis

^1,*

,

Apostolos Kiritsakis

^4,5,

Leonidas Rempelos

³

and

Carlo Leifert

^3,6,7

¹

Olive and Agroecological Production Systems Laboratory (EOPS), Hellenic Mediterranean University, P.O. Box 1939 Estavromenos, Heraklion, 71004 Crete, Greece

²

Geokomi Plc, P.O. Box 21 Sivas Festos, 70200 Crete, Greece

³

Nafferton Ecological Farming Group, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK

⁴

International Hellenic University, Thermi, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece

⁵

International Observatory of Oxidative stress for Health and Agricultural Products, 21 Kar. Diehl Str., 54623 Thessaloniki, Greece

⁶

SCU Plant Science, Southern Cross University, Military Rd., Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia

⁷

Department of Nutrition, IMB, University of Oslo, 0372 Oslo, Norway

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Agronomy 2022, 12(7), 1484; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12071484

Submission received: 24 May 2022 / Revised: 13 June 2022 / Accepted: 16 June 2022 / Published: 21 June 2022

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrated Soil, Crop and Human Nutrition and Health Management in Organic Agriculture)

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Abstract

The demand for organic olive oil has increased rapidly over the last 40 years, but there is limited information on the effects of organic production methods on commercially and nutritionally relevant quality parameters in olive oil. The main objective of this farm survey-based study was therefore to compare fruit and oil yields and important oil quality parameters (including acidity, peroxide value and fatty acid profiles) between organic and conventional farms located in the Messara Plain and foothills. As expected, yields were substantially higher on farms in the Messara Plain compared with those in the foothills which have poorer soil, less access to irrigation water and are the more extensively managed. However, different to the many previous studies (which reported lower yields in organic systems), both fruit and oil yields were not significantly different in organic and conventional production and numerically ~10% higher in organic production. Additionally, olive oil quality was very high, and no substantial effects of production systems and farm location were found. Potential factors (e.g., low olive fly pressure) which may have contributed to the lack of a yield and quality gap between organic and convention production in the Messara region are discussed.

Keywords: acidity; conventional; fatty acid profile; olive oil yield; organic; peroxidase value

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MDPI and ACS Style

Volakakis, N.; Kabourakis, E.; Kiritsakis, A.; Rempelos, L.; Leifert, C. Effect of Production System (Organic versus Conventional) on Olive Fruit and Oil Yields and Oil Quality Parameters in the Messara Valley, Crete, Greece; Results from a 3-Year Farm Survey. Agronomy 2022, 12, 1484. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12071484

AMA Style

Volakakis N, Kabourakis E, Kiritsakis A, Rempelos L, Leifert C. Effect of Production System (Organic versus Conventional) on Olive Fruit and Oil Yields and Oil Quality Parameters in the Messara Valley, Crete, Greece; Results from a 3-Year Farm Survey. Agronomy. 2022; 12(7):1484. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12071484

Chicago/Turabian Style

Volakakis, Nikolaos, Emmanouil Kabourakis, Apostolos Kiritsakis, Leonidas Rempelos, and Carlo Leifert. 2022. "Effect of Production System (Organic versus Conventional) on Olive Fruit and Oil Yields and Oil Quality Parameters in the Messara Valley, Crete, Greece; Results from a 3-Year Farm Survey" Agronomy 12, no. 7: 1484. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12071484

APA Style

Volakakis, N., Kabourakis, E., Kiritsakis, A., Rempelos, L., & Leifert, C. (2022). Effect of Production System (Organic versus Conventional) on Olive Fruit and Oil Yields and Oil Quality Parameters in the Messara Valley, Crete, Greece; Results from a 3-Year Farm Survey. Agronomy, 12(7), 1484. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12071484

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Effect of Production System (Organic versus Conventional) on Olive Fruit and Oil Yields and Oil Quality Parameters in the Messara Valley, Crete, Greece; Results from a 3-Year Farm Survey

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