Search Results (7)

The desalting process is critical for packaging table olives in brine with reduced NaCl or fortified mineral nutrients. In this study, the effect of desalting on the physicochemical characteristics and mineral content of green Manzanilla Spanish-style (plain and stuffed with pepper paste) and DOP Aloreña de Málaga table olives was investigated for the first time. The surface colour of the fruits turned slightly brownish, and the olives became somewhat softer. The lactic acid, the mineral macronutrients (mainly) and micronutrient contents decreased, while flesh moisture increased. The kinetic parameters of the minerals’ losses depended on the presentation, with the estimated values for plain olives being the lowest (slowest desalting). Overall, the desalting process resulted in slight quality damage and a moderated decrease in the mineral concentration in the flesh, leading to some product degradation. This study provides quantitative information on these changes that may affect the commercial value of the final products and offers information for viable designs. Full article

Californian-style black olives can undergo different chemical changes during the sterilization process that can affect their sensory and phenol characteristics. Thus, these olives were stuffed with flavoured hydrocolloids and submitted to different thermal sterilization treatments to assess sensory categories. The triangular test indicated that the panellists were able to discriminate between samples from different categories according to their aromas with more than 85% success. The results indicated that the negative aroma detected by tasters was related to burn defects. The highest level of defects was found in standard olives, while the lowest was identified in the extra category. Furthermore, olives submitted to the lowest thermal sterilization treatment (extra) presented significantly higher phenol profile content, such as for hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, oleuropein and procyanidin B1. The electronic nose (E-nose) discriminated between samples from different categories according to the specific aroma (PC1 = 82.1% and PC2 = 15.1%). The PLS-DA classified the samples with 90.9% accuracy. Furthermore, the volatile organic compounds responsible for this discrimination were creosol, copaene, benzaldehyde and diallyl disulphide. Finally, the models established by the PLS analysis indicated that the E-nose could predict olives according to their aroma and total phenol profile $(R_{CV}^2$ values were 0.89 and 0.92, respectively). Thus, this device could be used at the industrial level to discriminate between olives with different sensory aromas to determine those with the highest quality. Full article

The olive industry involves environmental problems of special relevance, such as the generation of residual brines after the pickling process. Moreover, in the pitting and filling operations of the olives, fatty residues are generated that end up being washed away in the wastewater of these industries. The novelty of this work is based on the extraction of high value-added compounds from residues resulting from the industrialization process of olives, whose content in fatty acids, phenolic compounds and other substances could make them susceptible to being considered as a raw material of interest for the development or enrichment of other foods. The results obtained determined that the physico-chemical and functional characteristics of the oil and the brine, generated as by-products in the olive industry, indicated their potential as raw materials. For this reason, new formulations of the filling of olives (anchovy, red pepper, and lemon flavour) were developed, using the residual oil as a by-product, which showed greater global acceptability by consumers compared to a commercial stuffing made with sodium alginate. In addition, wastewater was used as a brine by-product to pickle three types of vegetables: carrot, cauliflower, and onion. All pickled vegetables showed the highest phenolic content and a higher overall liking, the differences being significant with respect to commercial reference. In conclusion, the results obtained could allow for the conversion of a by-product into a co-product, partially solving an environmental problem, and providing added value to the final product. Full article

Oxidized black table olives are frequently consumed in the Mediterranean diet. To improve food quality, the use of by-products is an emergent strategy that should be more studied. With a better understanding of the use of by-products, healthier food with the highest possible quality could be obtained, increasing its added value. Different by-products at different concentrations (1:10 and 1:100) and phenol-rich aromatized hydrocolloids were added to Californian-style black olive in order to evaluate its effect in acrylamide. In general, the addition of by-products before the sterilization process resulted in a significant reduction of the acrylamide content (10–60%). The highest inhibition was obtained with the phenolic extract at a 1:10 dilution. Furthermore, flavored olives stuffed with higher concentrations caused a greater reduction in acrylamide content. The ’Garlic’ and ‘Thyme’ flavors showed the greatest reduction of this toxic substance. The tasting panel considered that olives with a 1:10 dilution and olives filled with flavored hydrocolloids at low concentrations had a pleasant odor and positive sensory attributes. Orange peel was the recommended by-product to mitigate the effects of acrylamide since it obtained the highest score both in acrylamide inhibition and in the taste panel. As for the hydrocolloids, ‘Thyme’ showed the greatest inhibition effect but did not perform well in the taste panel, with similar effects to ‘Oregano’ and ‘Garlic.’ The current research attempts to underline the use of local by-products to obtain additives rich in antioxidant activity that could enhance oxidized black table olives, becoming a healthier, safer and better-quality products. Moreover, this connects with the idea of moving from a linear economy to a circular economy, obtaining a product of high economic value from a by-product. Full article

Carao (Cassia grandis) is an America native plant characterized by its high iron content. This particular property allows its use as a natural additive to fix the black colour in California-style black olives, while masking its unpleasant aroma by stuffing olives with flavoured hydrocolloid. The tasting panel evaluated olives filled with unflavoured hydrocolloid with a fruity aroma, classified them as an extra category. Olives with the Carao addition presented a positive aroma, but also showed negative sensory attributes such as cheese, fermented and metallic flavours/aromas. The aroma of lyophilized Carao was better than the fresh one. The ‘Mojo picón’ aroma masked defective olives, allowing their classification from the second to the first commercial category. The volatile compounds belonged to the following families: terpenes, hydrocarbons, and oxygenated compounds, while the minor ones were alcohols and acid derivatives. The main volatile compounds identified were dialyl disulphide and 3-methyl-butanoic acid; among the minor ones were 2,4-dimethyl-hexane and dimethyl-silanediol and nonanal. Addition of fresh Carao increased the unpleasant aroma provoked by 3-methyl-butanoic acid, 2-methyl-butanoic acid and (E)-2-Decenal. Finally, an electronic device was able to discriminate these aromas and the results obtained agreed with those of the tasting panel and the volatile compounds. Full article

Spanish-style table olives are one of the most common processed foods in the Mediterranean countries. Lack of control during fermentation can lead to one of the main defects of the olive, called ‘Zapateria’, caused by the combination of volatile fatty acids reminiscent of rotten leather. In this study, table olives altered with ‘Zapateria’ defect were stuffed with a hydrocolloid flavoured with the aroma ‘Mojo picón’ to improve consumer acceptance. Sensory analysis, determination of volatile compounds and electronic nose (E-nose) were used to evaluate the quality of the olives. The control samples had a high concentration of the defect ‘Zapateria’ and were classified in the second commercial category, while higher ‘Mojo picón’ flavour concentrations resulted in these olives being classified as ‘extra category’ (a masking effect). The main volatile compounds in olives with ‘Zapateria’ defect were cyclohexanecarboxylic acid and pentanoic acid. E-nose allowed discrimination between stuffed olives without added flavouring and olives with ‘Mojo picón’ flavouring at different concentrations. Finally, PLS regression allowed a predictive linear model to be established between E-nose and sensory analysis values. The $R_P^2$ values were 0.74 for perceived defect and 0.86 for perceived aroma. The E-nose was successfully applied for the first time to classify Spanish-style table olives with ‘Zapateria’ defect intensity and with the addition of the ‘Mojo picón’ aroma masking the defect. Full article

Olive pitting, slicing and stuffing machines (DRR in Spanish) are characterized by the fact that their optimal functioning is based on appropriate adjustments. Traditional systems are not completely reliable because their minimum error rate is 1–2%, which can result in fruit loss, since the pitting process is not infallible, and food safety issues can arise. Such minimum errors are impossible to remove through mechanical adjustments. In order to achieve this objective, an innovative solution must be provided in order to remove errors at operating speed rates over 2500 olives/min. This work analyzes the appropriate placement of olives in the pockets of the feed chain by using the following items: (1) An IoT System to control the DRR machine and the data analysis. (2) A computer vision system with an external shot camera and a LED lighting system, which takes a picture of every pocket passing in front of the camera. (3) A chip with a neural network for classification that, once trained, classifies between four possible pocket cases: empty, normal, incorrectly de-stoned olives at any angles (also known as a “boat”), and an anomalous case (foreign elements such as leafs, small branches or stones, two olives or small parts of olives in the same pocket). The main objective of this paper is to illustrate how with the use of a system based on IoT and a physical chip (NeuroMem CM1K, General Vision Inc.) with neural networks for sorting purposes, it is possible to optimize the functionality of this type of machine by remotely analyzing the data obtained. The use of classifying hardware allows it to work at the nominal operating speed for these machines. This would be limited if other classifying techniques based on software were used. Full article