Solid-phase microextraction in the analysis of the volatile fraction of extra-virgin olive oil from fourteen cultivars grown in the lake Garda region (Italy)

Forty-one volatile compounds were identified in virgin olive oils from fourteen cultivars grown near Lake Garda, Italy, using headspace solid-phase microextraction cupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Analyses of oils from olives with comparable ripeness indices showed that C6 volatile compounds, enzymatically produced through the lipoxygenase pathway, accounted for 77.4% - 94.3% of the total volatile fraction. The C5 volatile compounds, which are not derived from the lipoxygenase pathway, accounted for 1.6% – 8.4% of the total volatile fraction.