Effects of olive paste fast preheating on the quality of extra virgin olive oil during storage

The olive paste obtained after crushing was fast preheated under different time/temperature conditions and then malaxed in an industrial oil 12 mill (600 kg Frantoio/Leccino olive blend). Legal parameters (peroxides, free acidity and sensory panel), oil yield, total phenolic content, 13 oxidative stability and phenolic profile were monitored during 12 months of storage of the virgin olive oil (VOO) kept in closed bottles in the 14 dark. A fast preheating not longer than 72 sec at 38 °C without malaxation lead to an extra VOO with a shelf-life of at least 12-months, 15 similarly to the traditional EVOO obtained with malaxation. A fast preheating not longer than 72 sec at 38 °C followed by 10 min malaxation 16 lead to an EVOO with a „mild‟ sensory profile and a shelf life of at least 12-months. Thus, the use of a specific designed fast preheater 17 instead or before (a shortened) malaxation allows to obtain an EVOO with a low bitter/pungent attribute from olives which are rich of 18 (sometimes unpleasant) phenolic compounds with the aim to meet the preference of targeted groups of consumers. Time and temperature 19 of fast preheating are the critical parameters of the process.