Characterization of different olive pulp and kernel oils

In this paper, the tocopherol contents, fatty-acid compositions and some oxidation indexes of olive (Olea europaea L.) pulp and kernel oils, originating from six cultivars, were determined. The tocopherol contents varied from 110 ± 7.34 to 358 ± 3.86 μg/g in pulp oil and from 15.0 ± 0.17 to 38.8 ± 0.27 μg/g in kernel oil. The major fatty acid in all cultivars was oleic acid, along with two other predominant fatty acids, palmitic and linoleic. The PCA results showed that the fatty acid profiles are similar in pulp and kernel. The calculated oxidizability value of the kernel oils was slightly worse than those of the pulp oils. However, the kernel oils have favorable values for the saturated fatty acid contents and for the unsaturated/saturated fatty acids ratio. The main outcome of this study revealed that the kernel oils can be used as suitable edible oils, with low tocopherol content, but with a more favorable fatty acids composition than their corresponding pulp oils.