Effect of olive storage temperature on the quality of Carolea and Ottobratica oils

The aim of this work was to evidence the effect of the olive storage temperature on the quality of the extracted oils from the cultivars Carolea and Ottobratica, grown in the South of Italy. Qualitative parameters of oils were evaluated by analysis of major and minor components, in particular free acidity, peroxide value, fatty acid composition, sterol composition, squalene content and total content of polyphenols, tocopherols and pigments. The total antioxidant activity of olive oils was evaluated by DPPH and ABTS assays. The response to the storage conditions applied to olives in terms of oil qualitative parameters was different between the cultivars. In Carolea oils the effect of the temperature was significant, whereas also the harvesting time and the storage times affected the general quality of Ottobratica oils.