Looking for Typical Traits in Monovarietal VOOs According to Their Phenolic Composition

Due to its high sensitivity to numerous variability sources, it is hard to define the typicity of a monovarietal virgin olive oil (VOO) according to its phenolic profile. In this study, we aimed to identify the features of phenolic composition that are persistent and minimally affected by variability sources, making them potential varietal markers. We separately analyzed three databases of monovarietal VOO phenolic compositions, determined by liquid chromatography, from three different cultivars. The first database was produced from the original data of the Bosana cultivar. The other two were obtained through a systematic analysis of scientific literature on Coratina and Frantoio cultivars. Several statistical tools, including coefficient of variability, correlations, and linear regression models, were used to find recurring proportions or ratios unaffected by variability sources suitable to define typical varietal traits. Some proportions between molecules, mostly within the same phenolic class, remain constant. Strong correlations between (i) flavonoids were observed in Bosana and Frantoio VOOs (R² = 0.87 and 0.77, respectively), (ii) oleacein-oleocanthal (Bosana, R² = 0.81) (iii) oleuropein aglycon-ligstroside aglycon (Frantoio, R² = 0.88), and (iv) lignans (Coratina, R² = 0.84). These traits could be useful tools for defining the typicity of monovarietal VOOs.