Changes in Volatile Compounds During Processing of Tunisian-Style Table Olives

Table olive (Olea europaea L.) fruit is widely used in the food industry due to its excellent nutritional and health values. The objective of the present research was to determine aroma profiles by hydrodistillation and GC/MS of the autochthonous Meski and two introduced table olives (Picholine and Manzanella) treated with two traditional Tunisian processes. Independent of the processing method, the olive fruit had significant cultivar-dependent differences. The volatile compounds of the treated products were affected by processing: total terpenes increased, while aldehydes decreased and new aroma profiles emerged with large variations in the rate of appearances of the different aroma compounds. Principal component analysis showed that fruit quality is strongly affected by its endogenous specificity and by the processing method used.