1. Olive oil quality is best assessed through both chemical analysis and sensory evaluation by trained experts, though consumer preferences may differ from expert opinions. 2. Modern olive growing and processing techniques allow producers to harvest different varieties separately and blend oils to achieve specific flavor profiles tailored to different market demands. 3. During olive oil tasting sessions, non-experts can still provide useful evaluations by focusing on the overall intensity and harmony of flavors, rather than attempting to dissect individual components.

1. Olive Oil Tasting
A way (useful although not official) to assess olive oil quality?
Conventional statements:
1. Chemical analysis and sensory assessment are essential for defining the oil
quality profile.
2. Only experts (qualified tasters or panel leaders) are the only able to reliably
conduct organoleptic assessment of virgin olive oil.
3. The assessment carried out by non trained and monitored olive oil tasters is not
relevant.
4. Oil tasting shall take place in a test room installed and equipped according to
the (IOOC) standards.
Although quality competition awards might help penetrate new markets, in most cases,
consumers taste simply differs from the expert opinion.
Producer interest is to meet consumers requirements rather than to satisfy trained and
monitored tasters.
While quality assessment aims at maximum standardisation, in different Regions, consumers
appreciate product with different sensory profiles.
Modern grove management allows to press one variety at the time and obtain
monovarietal oil or deciding blending ratios among cultivars.
Due to the progressive ripening of olives, oil traits change a lot during the harvest
season.
By maintaining oil in stocking batches related to variety or time of harvest (stage of
ripening) it is possible to blend different kinds of oils and reach specific flavor or contain
natural flavor fluctuation due to oil aging.
Oils can then be blended according to the specific requirements of the market to supply
or to offer a wider range of products. Spicy or less strong oils can interest different
markets or different uses (classic matches are fish dishes with delicate oils or vegetable
soups with strong flavors).
At the beginning of the season, the oil is bitter and spicy to get milder with the olive
ripening or the oil aging.
During pressing season, oil testing might highlight the need to change processing
parameters to adjust molaxing duration or temperature. Identifying some traits linked to
variety can also provide a guide for new plantation.

2. The Appearance.
While being totally negligible in standard tasting, appearance heavily contributes to
expectation and perception. Consumer from different Regions attribute different values
to colour and opacity.
Although, in order to preserve its quality, high end oils are bottled in opaque containers,
green is associated with fresh, un-adulterated and flagrant taste. Recalling such colour on
the exterior increases the consumer expectation towards these characteristics.
As for the clearness, the largest part of oil intended to export are filtered and clear.
Offer of non filtered oil is restricted to niche demand and go with information about
possible presence of sediments that are a natural occurrence not meaning any detriment
to the product or health hazard.
Chemical Analysis.
Chemical inspections should be reserved to oils from uncertain origin. It is misleading to
use the results as a quality evidence. In facts, deviated chemical traits leads to deviated
taste but the opposite does not necessarily occurs and the analysis a regular chemical
profile might be associated to a disgusting oil.
As for basic indicators as acidity and nr. of peroxides, the official limits are far too wide
from discriminating low quality products.
Tasting.
Official tasting is a complex practice that aims at discriminating and grading the main
flavours and bouquet components. Beyond the four primary taste (sweet, salty, acid,
bitter), there is a number of other attributes to be investigated and the resulting details
organised in graphics.
Sensitivity changes from a person to the others and from morning to afternoon.
All these variable are made even more complex by sensory adaptation which lead
sensitivity to progressively decrease taste after taste.
All this activity results in a number of graphics as impressive at least as useless since not
helping to compare one oil to the other and choosing the best one.
A different approach is possible. The way a potential consumer will assess our oil does
not involve to dissect its component but enjoy it as a whole. Two main characteristics are
perceived: flavor intensity and flavor harmony.
 Flavor intensity describes the strength flavor is perceived. It is not an exact
indicator and only instruments can measure it with exact numbers.
 Flavor harmony describes the overall perception resulting from the interaction of
the different flavor components.
The rest is for academic conventions.
How to proceed

3. It is better to organize tasting sessions in morning time since smell and taste senses are
sharper. More than one person can participate to the taste session, olive oil experts can
be present but their diplomas will not help. You have some thin plastic cup (coffee style)
and a plastic sheet to wrap them. It is better to avoid paper cup since the material has its
own smell.
-Pour some quantity of oil in them and associate them with the batch code (avoid
smelling markers) and cover them.
- Once all the samples are ready and you can begin, uncover them all and, only by
smelling, set them along a line starting from the more delicate to the most intense. It is
possible to heat the cup within the hands, shake the oil, use any system enhancing the
flavor strength given that the same method is repeated for all the samples.
- It is possible to operate in group or any participant can set up its own sequence and
later agree a common arrangement. At this step, it is possible to taste oils when a ranking
position is in question.
- Values from 1 to 10 can be given so that two oils having a very similar intensity will
get the same or a close mark while another more get a more distinguished mark.
- The procedure permits flavor harmony assessment and a second arrangement. Harmony
assessment is mainly based on the absence of bad smell but also consider the balance of
main components.
- The two values I and H (intensity and harmony) marked for any oil permit to arrange
them on two axis graph.
- Having carried out most of trials by only smelling, tasting capacity is preserved and can
be devoted to confirm or correct only the most interesting attributions. Then the
equilibrate presence of the primary taste (sweet, salty, acid, bitter) can also be
considered.
- Then the value to consider is obtained by multiplying IxH.
Therefore sample A in the picture, has the same general value as sample B while sample
D is more interesting although less intense than sample C.

4. Sample C
Sample D
Intensity
Sample B
Harmony
Sample A
1. Pressing olives when they are still green provides a stock of bio-phenols (bitter and
spicy) and green (chlorophyll) to be used to refresh previous year oil or the oil from
over-ripe olives.
2. Oil flavour and taste change with time. There are more oil with more persistent traits
than others.
3. Fluidity is an important characteristic. Although expert prefers light oils not leaving any
greasy feeling after swallow, the consumer expect some oily sensation to stay in the
mouth.