Table Olives: Processing, Analysis Technology and Sensory Characteristics

Dear Colleagues,

Table olives are a unique component of Mediterranean diet foods, according to which they are consumed before or after meals, or as appetizers. Within this context, table olives are considered as being of equal importance to olive oil, and are one of the most important fermented products within the food industry.

At present, table olives are produced not only in Mediterranean countries (Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco) and the United States but also in Australia and other countries, where they are developing as an important element for the economy.

The harvested olive fruit is bitter due to the phenolic compounds it contains, predominantly the glucoside oleuropein which has beneficial effects on human health and contributes to table olive flavor when maintained at appropriate levels.

Table olives are commercially debittered and prepared according to the well-established processing methods of Spanish-style (green olives), Greek-style (naturally black olives), and Californian-style (black ripe olives). There are also other minor traditional processing methods of local importance adopted for local varieties such as the Castelvetrano for the Nocellara del Belice variety, the dry salted olives for the Throumba variety, and others.

The quality of table olives depends on fruit factors (degree of maturation, size, etc.), processing conditions (lye concentration, temperature, aeration, salt content, starter culture), and post-processing methods (storage length and temperature, packaging materials and conditions). These result in different qualities of table olives with unique microbial, physicochemical, and organoleptic profiles, thus necessitating proper analysis to ensure the safety of consumption and improvement of nutritional and flavor characteristics.

Based on the increasing consumer demand for safe, tasty, and nutritious foods, it might be interesting to direct research on table olives towards novelties in processing, preservation, and analysis technologies aiming to establish detailed microbial, physicochemical, and organoleptic characteristics of quality.

Prof. Dr. Gerasopoulos Dimitrios
Guest Editor

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• physicochemical analysis
• organoleptic traits
• olive processing styles
• nutritional characteristics
• antioxidants
• packaging
• preservation
• salt
• microbial fermentation