ARI Biennial Review for 2018-2019

True Healthy Olive Cultivars (THOC) Project The Network of Olive Germplasm Banks of the International Olive Council (IOC), consisting of 3 international and 20 national banks has started the implementation of THOC project. The objectives of this project are the following: a) authenticate 101 most common in national level and most commonly exchanged among IOC network countries commercial cultivars; b) test the absence of the main pathogens that cause epidemics spread by plant interchange; c) establish reference collections of DNA and endocarps from the authenticated cultivars; d) create an online database of the morphological (UPOV) and SSR profiles of the authenticated and pathogen- free cultivars; e) provide members of IOC Network with true-to-type and pathogen-free genetic material to facilitate initial plants for potential olive plant certification programmes in the corresponding countries. (M.G. Emmanouilidou) Olive oil characterisation in relation to olive fruit maturity profile and olive fruit postharvest management Olive oil constitutes the main product of olive culture. For the Mediterranean people, olive oil is the main source of oils and fats intake; furthermore, olive oil production and consumption is concentrated almost exclusively in the Mediterranean basin. It is derived from olive fruits ( Olea europaea L.) of various varieties and its extraction from olive fruit requires a series of physicomechanical processes. The various quality standards for olive oil determine the different quality categories of olive oil, with virgin olive oils (extra virgin, virgin, ordinary) comprising the superior categories. The virgin olive oil categories reflect a wide range of variation in physicochemical and organoleptic characteristics. A repository of these characteristics with respect to varietal and edaphoclimatic origins can be an effective tool for product differentiation and for product quality control according to specific qualitative and sensorial consumer requirements. The lack of data concerning the physicochemical and organoleptic characteristics of varietal olive oils produced in Cyprus provided the springboard for launching the present ARI research programme on olive oil characterisation, a joint project of the Olive Technology Laboratory and the Postharvest Technology Laboratory. In this context, we examine the variety effect, the maturity effect as well as the effect of postharvest handling of olive fruits on the physicochemical and organoleptic characteristics of olive paste and olive oil. The main objectives of the project are: a) varietal characterisation of olive fruit ripening profiles, b) varietal characterisation of olive fruit postharvest behaviour, c) evaluation with respect to fruit harvest maturity and postharvest storage: i) efficiency of olive oil mechanical extraction; ii) rheological-chemical characteristics of the olive paste; iii) physicochemical organoleptic characteristics of the olive oil; iv) the oxidative stability of olive oil. (M.G. Emmanouilidou, M.C. Kyriacou) 23 FRUIT TREES