First comprehensive characterization of volatile profile of north Moroccan olive oils: A geographic discriminant approach.

Herewith we have evaluated the variability of the composition in terms of volatile compounds of monovarietal "Picholine marocaine" olive oils and checked the possible influence of their geographical origin. For this purpose, 92 olive samples were collected during the harvesting period 2012/2013 from 7 north Moroccan regions, and the analysis of the volatile profiles of the obtained oils was performed by using headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography with flame ionization and mass spectrometry detectors (HS-SPME/GC-FID-MS). A total of 40 volatile compounds belonging to different chemical classes were identified and quantified. Significant differences in the concentration levels of volatile constituents from oils of different geographical origins were found. Furthermore, for testing the ability of the identified volatile compounds for the geographical origin discrimination of the investigated oils, a stepwise linear discriminant analysis (s-LDA) was applied. Results revealed a very satisfactory classification of the studied oils according their geographic origin.