Evaluation of the Fatty Acids Composition and Quality of Olive Oil Produced in Different Provinces of Iran

The aim of this study was to evaluate the composition of fatty acid and qualitative characteristics of virgin olive oils produced in different provinces of Iran including Gilan, Golestan, Zanjan, Qazvin, Qom and Fars. Acidity, peroxide, extinction coefficient differences (∆k), fatty acid compositions were measured. The results showed that acidity, peroxide and extinction coefficient differences of most samples, except for the Fars and Golestan (F, Go3), and levels of fatty acids of all oils, except for miristic acid of Qom and Zanjan (Qo, Z2), were in accordance with the national and International standard of Olive Oil. The highest monounsaturated fatty acids, MUFAs (72.12-76.21%) were traced in samples from Zanjan, Golestan and Qazvin provinces which showed the lowest saturated fatty acids, SFAs (16.99-17.99%), poly unsaturated fatty acids, PUFAs (6.49-10.42%) and Cox indices (1.49-1.84%). Based on results obtained, the sample of olive oil of Golestan, Zanjan, and Qazvin (Go1, Qa1 and Z1) were in the highest quality categories and of Fars (F) was in the lowest quality categories with different indices from other samples. Since various parameters affect on the quantity and quality of olive oil and, beside that, the low quality samples can also be found in those provinces where high quality of olive oile are produced, the fatty acids profile alone could not be consider as sole factor to geographically classify the quality of olive oil, but it can be used as one of the important iindicators in quality classification of olive oil