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The hydrocarbon fraction of virgin olive oil and changes resulting from refining
Author(s) -
Lanzón Augusto,
Albi Tomás,
Cert Arturo,
Gracián Jaime
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/bf02638054
Subject(s) - squalene , fraction (chemistry) , chemistry , hydrocarbon , refining (metallurgy) , isomerization , organic chemistry , gas chromatography , sterol , chromatography , catalysis , biochemistry , cholesterol
In numerous Spanish virgin olive oils, 6,10‐dimethyl‐1‐undecene, various sesquiterpenes, the series of n ‐alkanes from C14 to C35, n‐8‐heptadecene and squalene are the only less volatile components detected by gas chromatography in the hydrocarbon fraction. In oils from olives of the Arbequine variety, a series of n ‐9‐alkenes has also been found. In refined oils, notable features are the absence of the most volatile compounds and the appearance of other hydrocarbons produced during the refining process. Among these, n ‐alkanes, alkadienes (mainly n ‐hexacosadiene), stigmasta‐3,5‐diene, isomerization products of squalene, isoprenoidal polyolefins coming from hydroxy derivatives of squalene and steroidal hydrocarbons derived from 24‐methylene cycloartanol were identified. Physical refining produces larger amounts of degradation products and greater losses of n ‐alkanes than chemical processing. Squalene is the major hydrocarbon component in all oils, both virgin and refined. The ranges of concentration for the different hydrocarbons found in Spanish virgin olive oils are presented.