PRELIMINARY CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF TUNISIN MONOVARIETAL VIRGIN OLIVE OILS AND COMPARISON WITH SICILIAN ONES.
Work was carried out on the characterization of monovarietal virgin olive oils (VOO) from Tunisia and Sicily (Italy). The two main Tunisian VOO (cvv. Chétoui of the North and cv. Chemlali grown in the Center and some regions of the South) and three principal Sicilian VOO (cvv. Nocellara del Belice, Biancolilla and Cerasuola) were studied. Moreover, the Chétoui oils were tested in a rain-fed control and an irrigation regime. All olive samples were picked at three different stages of ripeness. Analyses of major components (fatty acids and triacylglycerols) and minor ones (squalene, tocopherols and phenolic compounds) were carried out. Chétoui oils had a higher level of phenolic compounds foll…
Classification of Pecorino cheeses produced in Italy according to their ripening time and manufacturing technique using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, followed by linear discriminant analysis of the spectral data, was used to classify Italian Pecorino cheeses according to their ripening time and manufacturing technique. The Fourier transform infrared spectra of the cheeses were divided into 18 regions and the normalized absorbance peak areas within these regions were used as predictors. Linear discriminant analysis models were constructed to classify Pecorino cheeses according to different ripening stages (hard and semi-hard) or according to their manufacturing technique (fossa and nonfossa cheeses). An excellent resolution was achieved according to both ripening time and manufacturing technique. A…