Simulation of Transport under Different Temperature Conditions: Effects on Extra Virgin Olive Oil Quality

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is imported/exported globally. However, little is known about the qualitative effects of the transport conditions, and, consequently, they are not usually controlled. This study simulates temperature fluctuations in summer (18–42.5 °C, 12 h–12 h, one week) and winter (4–16.5 °C, 12 h–12 h, one week), to examine their effect on EVOO quality. The EVOO samples undergo evaluation with chemical analyses before and immediately after treatment and after 24 weeks of storage (at room temperature in the dark). The simulated summer conditions cause oil oxidation. This situation bears a connection to an increased lipid oxidation rate, peroxide value, 1.2/1.3 diacylglycerol ratio, rancid score, and rancid-related volatile compounds. The simulated winter conditions also cause oil oxidation. In this case, the rancid score and the rancid-related volatile compound content show similarities to the samples exposed to the simulated summer conditions. In winter conditions, the temperature fluctuations seem to play a key role in the rancid defect appearance. Eleven of the 15 (summer) and 10 of the 15 (winter) samples are downgraded from the category of “extra virgin” to “virgin” after 24 weeks of bottle storage. Practical applications: Transportation conditions constitute a critical factor in determining extra virgin olive oil quality. Transport is a critical control point in maintaining the quality of extra virgin olive oil, which can be transported without any specific controls. The obtained results improve the knowledge regarding the risks related to transport in hot and cold seasons, assessing the oxidative damages in both conditions on three different cultivars. A better understanding of the degradation phenomena during transportation helps develop specific technologies and practices (e.g., controlled-temperature transportation, thermal insulation materials, use of digi-sense nonreversible temperature labels, and so on) to counter the phenomena and evaluate the costs and limits of the existing protocols.