Characterization, Quality, and Authenticity of Olive Products: A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Emerita Maria Z. Tsimidou
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 144
Special Issue Editors
Interests: abiotic stress; fruit ripening; fruit tree physiology; functional fruits; multi-omics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: antioxidant activity; phenolic compounds; olive oil phenols; olive byproducts; olive leaves; radical scavenging; fats and oils oxidation; structure-antioxidant activity relationship; white wine oxidati
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The following Special Issue is dedicated to celebrating the outstanding scientific career and enduring contributions of Professor Emerita Maria Z. Tsimidou (Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Technology, School of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece). Over more than four decades, Professor Tsimidou has made landmark contributions to food chemistry, with a particular focus on virgin olive oil chemistry, quality, and authenticity; saffron chemistry and authentication; antioxidant activity of plant-derived phenols and carotenoids; the analysis of bioactive compounds including squalene and phenols; and the development of rigorous analytical methods for their determination in complex matrices. Her role in shaping European regulatory frameworks, her leadership as Scientific Coordinator of the Greek node of the ESFRI-listed METROFOOD-RI European Research Infrastructure for Food Metrology (METROFOOD-GR), her chairmanship of the COST ACTION Saffronomics, her editorial leadership in the European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology, and her activity as an Advisory Board member of Molecules, among many other duties, exemplify a career of exceptional breadth and impact at both national and European levels. This themed issue brings together colleagues, collaborators, and scientists inspired by her work to reflect on and advance the fields to which she has devoted her career.
The scope of this Special Issue encompasses olive oil and table olives from any geographic origin, in addition to olive drupes, leaves, and the broad spectrum of olive-derived products and by-products (including olive leaf flour, olive pomace powders, table olive processing discards, and residues from olive mill wastewater treatment), approached through a wide array of molecular, physicochemical, and metabolomics-based techniques. The aims of this Special Issue are as follows:
- To investigate environment- and climate-driven effects on the molecular composition and metabolomic profiles of olive cultivars worldwide.
- To substantiate the authenticity and quality of olive products and establish chemical markers applicable across diverse geographical and agronomic contexts.
- To identify and quantify bioactive compounds—including phenols, squalene, carotenoids, chlorophylls, triterpenes, and tocopherols—and explore their nutritional and health-related significance (e.g., against non-communicable diseases).
- To identify and quantify process- and packaging-related contaminants, including mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOHs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as emerging quality and safety concerns requiring robust analytical monitoring.
- To explore innovative, sustainable, and green analytical strategies for the characterization and authentication of olive products that reduce solvent consumption and improve efficiency.
- To examine innovative approaches to the valorization of olive-derived by-products and waste streams, including possibilities for developing new products with high added value.
Scientists are warmly invited to submit original research articles, reviews, short communications, commentaries, and viewpoints to this Special Issue, which will be of interest to a broad international audience working in the fields of food chemistry, food quality and safety, analytical chemistry, and related disciplines. In the case of review articles, a brief preliminary description (1–2 pages) including a draft index is required prior to submission to avoid thematic overlap among contributions.
Dr. Athanassios Molassiotis
Dr. Nenadis Nikolaos
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- olive oil
- table olives
- olive by-products
- bioactive compounds
- authenticity and quality markers
- molecular and metabolomics characterization
- food contaminants (MOHs and PAHs)
- analytical methods
- antioxidant activity
- food fraud
- climate change effects
- valorization
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Related Special Issue
- Characterization of Olive Products from Greece in Molecules (13 articles)
