Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and olives, key sources of unsaturated fatty acids in the Mediterranean diet, provide health benefits to humans. Nitric oxide (•NO) and nitrite (NO2 (-))-dependent reactions of unsaturated fatty acids yield electrophilic nitroalkene derivatives (NO2-FA) that manifest salutary pleiotropic cell signaling responses in mammals. Herein, the endogenous presence of NO2-FA...

Ripe fruit offer readily available nutrients for many animals, including fruit fly larvae (Diptera: Tephritidae) and their associated rot-inducing bacteria. Yet, during most of their ontogeny, fruit remain chemically defended and effectively suppress herbivores and pathogens by high levels of secondary metabolites. Olive flies (Bactrocera oleae) are uniquely able to develop in unripe olives. Un...

An undescribed wasp, Pteromalus nr. myopitae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) opportunistically parasitizes the olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae), an introduced pest of olives in California. The native or typical host of P. nr. myopitae is unknown. We demonstrate that P. nr. myopitae is a solitary, ectoparasitic, idiobiont parasitoid of the third instar host inside frui...

Table olives are one of the most important traditional fermented vegetables in Southern European (Italy, Greece and Spain) countries. In the Greek-style production system, the fruits are placed directly into the brine, thus allowing the natural fermentation to take place. The spontaneous fermentations, that can last 8–12 months, are driven by mixed populations of microorganisms, mainly the epip...

This work proposes classification models for the prediction of olive maturity index based on Fourier Transform-Near Infrared (FT-NIR) spectra intact drupes. An image analysis (IA) method was purposely developed objective evaluation index. Thirteen cultivars at different ripening stages were harvested along three years. The reliability IA confirmed by highly significant correlation with common v...

The selection of yeasts intended as starters for table olives is a complex process, including a characterization step at laboratory level and a validation at lab level and factory-scale. The characterization at lab level deals with the assessment of some technological traits (growth under different temperatures and at alkaline pHs, effect of salt, and for probiotic strains the resistance to pre...

The aim of the current study was the qualitative exploration and quantitative monitoring of key olive secondary metabolites in different production steps (drupes, paste, first and final oil) throughout a virgin olive oil production line. The Greek variety Koroneiki was selected as one of the most representative olives, which is rich in biological active compounds. For the first time, an HPLC-Or...

The table olive is probably one of the most important and most recognized fermented vegetable in the food industry. Basically, the elaboration of this food is constrained to Mediterranean countries, but there are also well established production regions in Australia, USA and South-America. Thus, table olive elaboration is widespread around the world and represents an important economic source f...

Lipid extraction using the traditional, destructive Soxhlet method is not able to measure oil content (OC) on a single olive. As color and near infrared spectrum are key parameters build an estimation model (EM), this study grouped olives with similar NIR for building EM of obtained by from cluster olives. The objective was estimate OC individual olives, based clusters in two seasons. This perf...