Assay of aroma active components of virgin olive oils from southern Italian regions by SPME-GC/ion trap mass spectrometry.

An SPME-GC/ion trap method was exploited to determine the chromatogram of volatile compounds of organic olive oils of southern Italian regions. The method is based on the assay of the terminal species of the "lipoxygenase pathway", which are present in the volatile fraction of the sampled compounds. Ethyl isobutanoate was used as internal standard in either the EI or CI ionization mode. The absolute concentration values of each analyte were evaluated through good-to-excellent calibration curves. Case studies on oils obtained from different cultivars or harvesting times are presented. The quantitative data for each compound were subjected to principal component analysis to characterize the different cultivars of this work.