Freezing and drying olives | Freezing and drying olives: Impact on virgin olive oil quality

Fruit preservation techniques make it possible to maintain their nutritional qualities and extend their shelf life. The aim of our work is to determine the influence of air and oven drying with or without blanching, freezing with or without blanching of olives for 1 month and 3 months of olive storage on the physico-chemical quality of olive oil from the local variety (Chemlal). The results show that both air-dried and stored-dried olive oils are classified as virgin olive oils. Oven-dried (with or without blanching) and stored-dried olive oils, on the other hand, are classified as lampante virgin olive oils. Oils from frozen olives (with or without blanching) are classified as current virgin olive oils. Storage of processed olives affects the characteristics of the oils produced. The impact is a considerable loss of phenolic compounds, with increased acidity and oxidation levels.