**Acknowledgement**

Financial support for this study was provided by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policy through the project GERMOLI "Salvaguardia e valorizzazione del GERMoplasma OLIvicolo delle collezioni del CRA-OLI".

#### **6. References**

194 Olive Germplasm – The Olive Cultivation, Table Olive and Olive Oil Industry in Italy

Toscano et al., 2009*a*).

**5.5. General findings** 

provides.

**Author details** 

Francesco Montemurro

Pietro Toscano

*Italy* 

*Italy* 

peat. Variable proportions of peat and/or two different olive waste composts deriving from the continuous two and three phases extraction systems, were added to a basis of river sand, used as control, for a total of six treatments for each of the three cultivars under observation (Carolea, Nocellara messinese and Tondina). The self-rooted plantlets were kept for 28 months in greenhouse, making periodic measurements of linear growth (cm) and number of internodes. At the end of trial, dry weights of leaves, branches and roots were detected. The results showed a greater nutritional efficiency of the substrates containing composts derived from the three phases olive mill wastes, with highly significant differences both in the linear growths and in the number of internodes; while the compost derived from two phases olive mill wastes do not showed particular benefits, giving results similar to peat, and to sand (control), presumably due to the higher C/N ratio of this compound (Santilli et al., 2012;

In the experimental conditions of southern Italy, the findings of the studies on repeated applications of WW indicate that it could be possible both to sustain herbaceous crops performance and support soil fertility, valorizing these wastes as organic amendment and reducing the risks of soil degradation, giving also a useful practice to reuse purposes as EU

Also the composting experiences of olive mill and olive orchard wastes carried out in natural conditions, demonstrate as relatively easy feasible and noticeable effective the production of stabilized organic amendment of elevated agronomic value to very contained costs. These materials have their natural utilization to maintain soil organic fertility, as well as substrate for olive nursery, in perspective as substitute of peat. According to the modern principles of the energetic and economic sustainability of agro industrial processes, the olive mill and olive orchard wastes composting has been confirmed as a valid alternative to the raw waste water and pomace shedding on the soil. In particular, a higher efficiency was found in stabilizing the organic matter, which works better in the restoration and in longterm maintenance of soil fertility. Furthermore must be considered that the nutritional effect of compost can allow to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers in fertilization plans, mostly raising the value of this kind of agro industrial by-products management. So could be a

better solution also to fit EU prescriptions concerning wastes reuse.

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**Chapter 10** 

© 2012 Piscopo and Poiana, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2012 Piscopo and Poiana, licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons

**Packaging and Storage of Olive Oil** 

Storage is a very important step of any food, including olive oil. In fact, olive oil shelf life can be influenced by different factors, from olive quality to processing technologies, however, the selection of proper storage conditions, including packaging, can be of great importance. The Mediterranean diet is recommended as food model for the prevention of various chronic-degenerative pathologies (cardiac diseases, cancer etc.) and olive oil is surely the cornerstone of this type of nutrition with fruits, vegetables, legumes and fish. Its peculiar nutritional characteristics depend on the presence of antioxidant components and monounsaturated fatty acids that are predominant on unsaturated ones, with positive results in the increase of HDL (High-Density Lipoproteins) and reduction of LDL (Low-

The consumer expresses its judgment on olive oil quality considering only some sensory characteristics, such as the more or less pungent taste, fruity and mild flavour and within this context a wide range of preferences can be found, because the sensory quality may match specific dishes, cultural aspects or simple dietary habits. Incorrect storage practices influence the sensory quality of the oil, as rancidity and off-flavours may develop. The lipid oxidation, in fact, is one of the factors of olive oil quality deterioration. The rate of oxidation depends on the availability of oxygen, the presence of light and the temperature. In absence of light, the autooxidation follows a free radical mechanism with the formation of hydroperoxides. These labile compounds further decompose to produce a complex mixture of volatile compounds such as aldehydes, ketones, hydrocarbons, alcohols, and esters responsible for the already mentioned deterioration of olive oil flavour known as ''oxidative rancidity". Many phenolic compounds of the olive oil contribute to its resistance to oxidative rancidity. After light exposition, photooxidation occurs through the action of natural photosensitizers (i.e. chlorophyll), which react with triplet oxygen to form the excited state singlet oxygen. It then gives a free radical from unsaturated fatty acids, leading to the production of hydroperoxides and eventually to carbonyl compounds, which result in the development of undesirable off flavours in oils.

Amalia Piscopo and Marco Poiana

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/51827

Density Lipoproteins) oxidation.

**1. Introduction** 

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter


**Chapter 10** 
