Geographical Classification of Turkish Virgin Olive Oils from the Aegean Region for Two Harvest Years Based on Their Fatty Acid Profiles

In this study, the fatty acid compositions of Turkish virgin olive oils produced in the Aegean region, the major olive production zone of Turkey, were classified by chemometric methods: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Discriminant Analysis (DA). A total of 268 oil samples were examined over the course of two harvest years (2001-2002 and 2002-2003). The samples were divided into six groups according to the olive growing zones: Edremit Gulf (Ayvalik cultivar), Izmir province (AyvalA +/- k, Memeli, Memecik and Gemlik), AydA +/- n province (Memecik, Manzanilla and Gemlik), Mugla (Memecik), Manisa (Gemlik, Domat, Uslu, AyvalA +/- k), A degrees zmir Peninsula (Erkence cultivar) and Firms (poly-cultivar or commercial blends). Consistent with discriminant analysis (DA), the predicted grouping in terms of the two harvest years were correctly separated as 74.5 and 74.8%, respectively. The highest levels of predicted grouping for the two harvest years were found in the Edremit Gulf (AyvalA +/- k cultivar), Mugla province (Memecik cultivar) and A degrees zmir peninsula (Erkence cultivar) groups (as 90-100%). In addition to oleic, linoleic, linolenic, margaric, margoleic, total trans isomers of linoleic, oleic/linoleic and palmitic/linoleic were determined to be the best descriptive components for the oil samples.