Identification of the appropriate harvest time for 'Arbequina' and 'Changlot Real' cultivars grown in San Juan, Argentina
2011
Cornejo, V. | Bueno, L.A.
'Arbequina’ is the most planted olive cultivar in San Juan with ‘Changlot Real’ providing an interesting alternative. When planning the collection of the fruits, it is crucial to identify the appropriate harvest time, when the fruits have the highest oil content and commercial quality within the purity criteria of IC. To determine the appropriate harvest time for ’Arbequina‘ and ’Changlot Real‘ to obtain Extra Virgin oil in this region using the Maturity Index (MI) as indicator, samples of olives were taken on 5 different dates, every 20 days from pit hardening, in three repetitions plots of 10 trees each. MI, oil content on dry matter, acidity, peroxide index, fatty acids composition, oxidative stability and total polyphenols content were determined. The relations between the observed variables were obtained by Pearson’s linear correlation. For the cultivar ‘Arbequina’ the maximum oil content (43.63%) was obtained in the second fortnight of April with a MI of 4.03 and values of fatty acid composition meeting IOOC purity criteria, except for oleic acid (54%). At an earlier date (second fortnight of March), the value of oleic acid was higher (58%) with MI=2.28, but oil content on a dry matter basis was lower (33.89%). For the cultivar ‘Changlot Real’ the appropriate harvest time was in the last days of April with MI=3.49. This moment coincided with the maximum oil content (48.99%) and complied with IOOC rules. For both cultivars, a high correlation was observed between the dates of sampling and the MI (0.94 ‘Arbequina’, 0.96 ‘Changlot Real’) and, between the MI and the maximum oil content (0.96 ‘Arbequina’, 0.83 ‘Changlot Real’), which notices the usefulness of these tools for the identification of the opportune moment of harvest.
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