**4. World olive oil production**

According to the report of the International Olive Council (IOC) (the International *Olive oil* Council, IOOC, until 2006), Mediterranean countries account for around 97 percent of the world's olive cultivation, estimated at about 10,000,000 hectares. There are more than 800 million olive trees currently grown throughout the world, of which greater than 90 percent are grown for oil production and the rest for table olives. It is estimated that more than 2,500,000 tons of *olive oil* are produced annually throughout the world.

Since the mid-1990s, Spain has consistently been the largest producer; in the year 2004/05 it produced 826,300 tons of *olive oil* and it is expected a sum of 2,948,000 tons for total world olive oil production in 2010/11. The main producer is still European Union (EU), with 2.1 million tons, of which 1.2 from Spain (-14% from the previous campaign), 336000 tons produced by Greece, 480000 tons by Italy, 67500 tons by Portugal, 65000 tons by Cyprus and 6000 tons by France. Out of EU, IOOC estimated a production of 193500 tons from Syria, 160000 tons from Turkey, 12000 from Tunisia, 150000 from Morocco, 48000 from Algeria, 24900 from Palestine, 19000 from Jordan, 18000 from Australia, 17500 from Argentina, and 15000 from Lybia.

The world *olive oil* consumption (2010-2011) will reach 2.98 million tons, with a 3.65 % increase from the previous campaign 2009-2010 (*IOC website*).

IOOC has estimated that the world export will increase of 5.05% and reach 707000 tons, with EU (438000 tons) as the main commercial power, followed at great distance by Morocco (40000 tons), Syria (50000 tons), Tunisia (90000 tons), and Turkey (38000 tons).

The import for the period between October 1st 2010 and September 30th 2011 is estimated at 648000 tons, with a 2.93% increase from the previous year (*IOC website*).

The pattern of production of *olive oil* during these years shows big fluctuations from one year to the next; however, Spain, Italy and Greece remain the three largest *olive oil* producing countries, dominating the world annual *olive oil* production. This signifies a high level of uncertainty regarding production levels. In the year 2004/05, Spain, Italy and

Traceability of Origin and Authenticity of *Olive Oil* 169

technology, and organoleptic qualities (Gimenez et al., 2010), and all of these parameters have to be investigated to study its traceability and to certify its quality. Among the above-

Additionally, a Database of Origin and Registration (DOOR) was created to support these denominations (Montealegre et al., 2010). Based on the report of the *International Olive Council* (http://www.internationaloliveoil.org) gave the world production of *olive oil* in 2008/2009 as 2,669.5 million tons and it consumption for the same period as 2,831.5 million tons. It is quite clear that some of the *olive oil* sold has been mislabeled. *Olive oil* is priced from \$13–105 for 500

The introduction of certifications of origin and quality for virgin *olive oil* as PDO makes necessary the implementation of traceability procedures. It seems that DNA analysis to be a promising approach to this problem, since it is less influenced by environmental and

Any research dealing with *olive oil* traceability is focused on investigating the botanical or geographical origin. However, the concept of geographical traceability, in which the objective is the geographical location of the olive tree, is slightly different from the concept of botanical traceability, in which the olive used for the *olive oil* production is the aim. In both cases, the selection of the markers (compounds with discriminating power) to be studied is complicated because the composition of extra virgin *olive oil*s is the result of complex interactions among olive variety, environmental conditions, fruit ripening, and oil

The verification of the cultivars employed to produce an *olive oil* sample may contribute to address the oil origin. This fact may have commercial interest in the case of monovarietal *olive oil*s or *olive oil*s with PDO because these high-quality *olive oil*s may be adulterated by

As the quality of an *olive oil* depends on the olive variety from which it is elaborated, the production of *olive oil*s from certain varieties has increased (Sanz-Cortes et al., 2003). The olive variety selection is based on its adaptation to different climatic conditions and soils. In addition, whereas some cultivars are characteristic of a given zone, others can be found in several countries (Japon-Lujan et al., 2006). As a consequence, one olive variety can be cultivated and nominated in a different way in distinct geographical locations, which makes the differentiation of olive varieties in *olive oil*s quite complex. (Montealegre et al., 2010)

Traditionally, differentiation among olive cultivars has been supported by numerous morphological (study of the form or shape) and pomological (the development, cultivation, and physiological studies of fruit trees) traits. Unfortunately, morphological traits have been difficult to evaluate, are affected by subjective interpretations, and are severely influenced by the environment and plant developmental stage (Sanz-Cortes et al., 2003). Nowadays, several efforts have been focused on the investigation of one or several compounds present in *olive oil*s usable to differentiate olive varieties (Montealegre et al., 2010). Compositional markers (substances that take part of the composition of the olive oils) include major and minor components. Major, (sterols, phenolic compounds, volatile compounds, pigments,

other oils of lower quality, using anonymous or less costly cultivars (Breton, 2004).

mentioned factors, the two first are the most important (Montealegre et al., 2010).

mL where as canola oil and sunflower oils available from less than \$1–10 for 500 mL.

processing conditions in respect to other methods (i.e.; metabolites).

extraction technology (Araghipour et al., 2008).

**5.1 Traceability to the botanical origin** 

Greece produced 32, 28 and 13.5 percent of the world's *olive oil*, respectively. However, the recent expansion of the *olive oil* industry and significant contribution to the global *olive oil* market by several other countries, such as Australia and the United States, may lead to stabilization of the market in the near future.
