Assessing Olive Oil Quality Using Different DNA-Based Methods.

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Microbiology
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Olive oil's nutritional and organoleptic properties are globally valued.
• Fungal contamination poses a significant risk to olive oil quality and consumer health.
• Microbial spoilage can compromise the beneficial compounds in olive oil.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of DNA-based methods for detecting fungal contamination in extra virgin olive oil.
• To compare endpoint PCR, Real-Time PCR (RT-PCR), and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) for fungal identification.
• To assess the potential of these methods for ensuring olive oil safety and quality.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of extra virgin olive oil samples for fungal contamination.
• Application of DNA extraction and amplification techniques: endpoint PCR, RT-PCR, and LAMP.
• Targeting the ITS2-28S ribosomal DNA region for fungal identification.

Main Results:

• All tested DNA-based methods successfully detected fungal contamination in olive oil samples.
• Real-Time PCR (RT-PCR) and endpoint PCR demonstrated varying levels of detection sensitivity.
• Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) provided a significantly faster and simpler method for identifying pathogenic molds compared to PCR-based techniques.

Conclusions:

• DNA-based methods are effective tools for assessing fungal contamination in extra virgin olive oil.
• The LAMP assay presents a promising, rapid, and user-friendly alternative for the olive oil industry.
• Adoption of LAMP can enhance quality control, ensuring consumer health and the safety of olive oil products.