foods Article Characterisation of Monovarietal Olive Oils Obtained from Croatian cvs. Drobnica and Buza during the Ripening Period Jasminka Giacometti 1,* , Cedomilaˇ Milin 2, Fabio Giacometti 3 and Zlatko Ciganj 4 1 Department of Biotechnology, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejˇci´c2, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia 2 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Rijeka, Bra´ceBranchetta 20, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia;
[email protected] 3 Ekoplus, d.o.o., Pogled 2/4, HR-51216 Viškovo, Croatia;
[email protected] 4 INA Refinery Urinj, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +385-51-584-557 Received: 19 October 2018; Accepted: 9 November 2018; Published: 13 November 2018 Abstract: The aim of this study was the monitoring of the chemical composition of olive oil at different ripening stages to determine the appropriate harvesting time during any given crop season in the northern Adriatic region. For this purpose, from September to November, two Croatian olive cultivars (Drobnica and Buza) were taken from two different olive orchards and for the respective olive oils, prepared on a laboratory scale, the major saponifiable, unsaponifiable and phenolic compounds were determined. Based on the chemical analyses performed, the optimal harvesting time has been set in October for both cultivars. Buza had a higher oleic acid, but lower total sterols, squalene and total alkanols. Compared to the local cultivars, the studied cultivars had a high total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity and concentrations of total phenols correlated with α-tocopherol in oil samples taken during the ripening progress.