Determination of tocopherol contents of some olive varieties harvested at different ripening periods.

The tocopherol contents of oils obtained from Ayvalık, Domat and Gemlik olive varieties harvested at different ripening periods were evaluated by high-performance liquid chromatography. α-Tocopherol was the major tocol detected in all the studied olive oil samples. The oils extracted from olive fruits composed of 130.54-180.43 mg kg⁻¹ α-tocopherol, 0.73-1.61 mg kg⁻¹ β-tocopherol and 0.53-2.28 mg kg⁻¹ γ-tocopherol for Ayvalık oil. The α-, β- and γ-tocopherol contents of Domat oil are in the ranges 95.60-125.56, 0.71-2.70 and 0.49-1.25 mg kg⁻¹ at different harvesting periods. The α-, β- and γ-tocopherol contents of Gemlik olive oil are in the ranges 112.59-168.19, 0.94-1.21 and 0.85-2.40 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. There were significant differences between the oils from cultivars grown in different environments.