Characterization of monovarietal olive oils obtained from mills of Calabria region (Southern Italy).

The qualitative characteristics of four monovarietal olive oils produced in Calabria region (Southern Italy) were evaluated. The aim of this work was to evidence the differences on chemical parameters due to variety and to growing environment. Results demonstrated a large variability in qualitative indexes according to the variety. Most of the Grossa di Gerace oils sampled in Ionian Southern coast revealed a high total acidity (percentage upper 0.8% of oleic acid). Fatty acid composition showed some varietal characters: in Grossa di Gerace oils possessed a low content of oleic acid and many Carolea oils showed a heptadecenoic acid level higher than 0.3% as European Rules requires for the extra virgin olive oil category. Carolea cultivar is widely grown in different sites of Calabria and so it is influenced by the different climatic conditions: the obtained oils strongly differed according to the production area.