Comparison between virgin olive oil and flavoured olive oil in terms of quality parameters, volatile compounds, and consumer preference

Analytical parameters, fatty acid composition, total phenols, pigments, volatiles compounds and hedonic characteristics were studied for unflavoured (EVOO) and flavoured (FOO) Chemlali olive oils. FOO were prepared by addition of commercial aromatic preparation of herbs, basil, thyme, rosemary and pizza, to Chemlali olive oil. The hedonic study was conducted to assess Tunisian consumers’ appreciation degree of FOO. The addition of commercial aromatic preparations caused an increase in the concentration of phenols only in two-FOO, the thyme and pizza-flavoured ones. The K270 value of FOO oil was higher than K270 value in EVOO. However, no modification on acidity, peroxide value, and K232 and in the oxidative stability was detected. As expected, the addition of aromatic solutions led to a remarkable modification in the aromatic composition of the olive oil. These changes appeared to be responsible for the large variability of consumers’ preference towards EVOO and FOO. However, it became clear that consumers preferred the FOO.