Virgin Olive Oil: Processing, Byproducts, Quality Control, and Nutraceutical Profile—3rd Edition
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 1927
Special Issue Editors
Interests: virgin olive oil; food science and technology; food by-products valorization; gluten free recipes; turbidity of vegetable oils; food quality; chemometric analysis; sensory and texture analysis in food
Interests: phenolic compounds; volatile compounds; fortification of food with nutraceutical compounds; food technology; food quality authentication; food byproduct re-use
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: natural antioxidants; nutraceutical sciences; food chemistry; nutrition and human health; phenolic compounds; extraction and characterization of bioactive molecules
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The interest in virgin olive oil has increased consistently over the last few decades, largely due to its unique and delicate flavor and nutraceutical properties. All of these properties have been associated with the presence of different classes of minor compounds, particularly phenolic and volatile compounds, as well as virgin olive oil’s peculiar fatty acid composition, which is very rich in monounsaturated fatty acids. Searching for innovative processes capable of extracting virgin olive oil with even better sensorial and nutraceutical properties is one of the current aims of producers and researchers. At the same time, the possibility of re-using byproducts containing high levels of hydroxytyrosol, secoiridoid derivatives, and other phenolic compounds has recently been the subject of much investigation, with the aim of making the olive oil production chain more economically and environmentally sustainable. Virgin olive oil is also unique in that it is the only food product to have a standardized protocol (the so-called panel test) for the analysis of its sensory attributes, and this protocol is used to classify samples according to recognized commercial categories. Researchers are working to develop chemical/statistical approaches that can support the panel test in the classification of virgin olive oil and can be used to authenticate the geographic and botanical origin of virgin olive oils.
This Special Issue aims to cover advances in research on (i) innovations in processing olives to obtain high-quality extra virgin olive oil; (ii) the possibility of re-using byproducts from olive oil extraction; (iii) quality control, e.g., developing chemical/statistical methods for the classification of virgin olive according to the current legislation and for the authentication of its geographic and botanical origin; and (iv) the nutraceutical potential of virgin olive oil, including the biological and health-promoting properties possessed by its phenolic compounds.
Dr. Carlotta Breschi
Dr. Lorenzo Cecchi
Dr. Maria Bellumori
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- virgin olive oil quality authentication
- byproduct management
- volatile compounds
- phenolic compounds
- sensory analysis
- health-promoting properties
- biological activity
- authentication of origin
- innovative extraction processes
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
