Elucidation of the Volatilome of Packaged Spanish-Style Green Olives of Conservolea and Halkidiki Varieties Using SPME-GC/MS ^†

Olives are characterized by a wide variety of volatile compounds, which are primarily products of microbial metabolism that contribute to the organoleptic characteristics of the final product and especially to its flavor. The volatilome in Spanish-style processed green olives of Conservolea and Halkidiki cultivars were analytically characterized. A solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) technique was used for the extraction of volatile components from the olive samples that were further identified and quantified by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Eighty-eight (88) compounds were identified, including several aldehydes, ketones, acids, terpenes, but mainly esters and alcohols. Results showed that there were no significant differences in the qualitative composition of the volatile profiles between the two varieties. Acetic and propanoic acids, thymol, ethanol, 2-butanol, 1-propanol, ethyl acetate as well as ethyl propanoate were the most dominant compounds found in both cultivars. However, some quantitative differences were spotted between the two varieties regarding some of the identified volatile compounds. The quantity of 2-butanol was higher in the Halkidiki variety, while propanoic acid ethyl ester was found in higher amounts in the Conservolea variety. Furthermore, differences in the quantities of some volatile compounds over time were observed. Most of the identified compounds presented an increasing trend during storage.