| Abstrakt: |
Olive growing plays a major role in the economy of Mediterranean countries, but fluctua- tions in the oil market are strongly influenced by a number of environmental factors, in- cluding the pathogens of the olive tree. In the present work, the aim was to evaluate the action of phytosanitary control as well as the quality of the oils produced, in an area with a strong attack of oil fly; to this end, during the 2018/2019 oil campaign, in Abruzzo 23 olive-growing companies in Abruzzo were monitored with regard to agronomic parameters and phytosanitary conditions, in order to reduce the attack of Bactrocera oleae with the aim of preserving the quality of the oils produced. In 83% of the farms monitored the da- mage from fly attack was contained within a range between 5 and 40%, and only in 17% of farms was found an attack between 50 and 80%. The harvested olives were sent to the oil mills in the area and milled during the day using the continuous system, except in two cases where the traditional system was adopted. An aliquot of the oils produced has been subjected to chemical, chemical-physical and organoleptic analysis, in accordance with the methods laid down in the Community standard: free acidity, number of peroxides, spectrophotometric indices, methyl and ethyl esters of fatty acids, waxes and panel tests. On the basis of the analyses carried out, two product categories were identified: eleven oils as extra virgin (EVO), twelve as virgin (VO) olive oil were classified. The interaction of all the parameters studied, by means of a chemometric approach, allowed us to find on the plane described by the first two principal components the groups of variables related to the two groups of samples EVO and VO. The results obtained in this work unequivocally demonstrate how an adequate program of phytosanitary defence is essential to safeguard the economy of a territory allowing to obtain oils suitable for consumption even in a year with disastrous forecasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
