Promising olive varieties for extra virgin oil production in Mendoza, Argentina

Abstract

There are more than 2000 varieties of olives grown worldwide, of which only a few (2 %) are cultivated in Argentina. Mendoza is one of the main oil-producing provinces in the country due to its adequate agroecological conditions. In addition, Mendoza has an olive germplasm collection with over 70 accessions. This work aimed to characterize olive oil from 18 preselected varieties in the collection for qualitative characteristics that are important to the olive industry (i.e., industrial yield, acidity, oxidative stability, total phenolic compounds and phenolic profile). As a result, all evaluated characteristics were significantly different among varieties (p < 0.001) and allowed identifying excellent qualities in varieties not currently cultivated. Five scarcely cultivated varieties (‘Villalonga’, ‘Nebbio’, ‘Nevadillo Blanco’, ‘Canino’, and ‘Piangente’) were highlighted above the most widespread cultivars in Mendoza, Argentina. Featuring on average of 14 % of industrial yield, 15 h of oxidative stability and 373 mg kg−1 of total phenolic compounds.