Comparison of fruit characteristics, oil properties and fatty acid composition of local Syrian Kaissy cv olive (Olea europaea)

In the present study, the variability caused by gamma rays in chemical and physical proper-ties of olive oils extracted from whole and flesh of olive ( Olea europaea ) fruits produced in Syria and stored for 12 months at ambient temperature were investigated. Olive fruits were treated with 0, 2 and 3 kGy. The results of the present study indicated that the acid value (AV) (as oleic acid%) of samples ranged from 0.32 to 1.78%, the peroxide value (PV) ranged from 4.79 to 21.19 mEq O ₂ kg ^-1 oil, iodine value (IV) ranged from 81.73 to 91.25 g I2 100 g''-1 oil, saponification value (SV) ranged from 185.93 to 197.71 mg KOH g''-1 oil, thiobarbituric acid (TBA) value ranged from 0.028 to 0.057 mg MDA kg''-1 oil, refractive index ranged 1.4642 to 1.4691 nD at 25 oC, viscosity ranged from 126.33 to 162.00 mPa.s''-1, and total phenolic ranged from 42.73 to 339.52 mg gallic acid kg -1 oil. The present study demonstrated that the effect of gamma irradiation on the quality properties of Syrian olive oil (SOO) was minimized. The results showed gradual loss of quality during storage in oil extracted from irradiated and non- irradiated olive fruits (author) .