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<pre>I have made a research in several editions of +ACI-Uliveto Italia+ACI-, the
magazine
of the italian association +ACI-Mastri Oleari+ACI-.
According to various studies, the ratio of oleic/linoleic oil varies between
different countries (nr.34 march 1996, see also nr.32 1995): (medium values,
table of Wolff)
fatty acid Italy Tunisia Spain Greece
oleic acid 76.4+ACU- 62.1+ACU- 78.5+ACU- 73.2+ACU-
(monounsaturated
fatty acid)
total mono 79.2+ACU- 64.9+ACU- 79.3+ACU- 73.8+ACU-
linoleic acid 7+ACU- 15.5+ACU- 5.7+ACU- 11.0+ACU-
(polyunsaturated
fattiy acid)
linolenic acid 0.8+ACU- 1.0+ACU- 0.8+ACU- 0.6+ACU-
total poly 7.8+ACU- 16.5+ACU- 6.5+ACU- 11.6+ACU-

As the monoinsatured fatty acids are more +ACI-valid+ACI- than the
polyunsaturated
fatty acids, and within the first category the oleic acid is the most
favourable for our diet, the ratio between these two categories is ONE
criteria (not the only one+ACE-) for the quality of the olive oil. According to
this list the Spanish oil has the highest ratio, followed by the italian
oils. Of course there are big differences within each nation, so the south
italian oil is said to have a lower ratio than the northern one.
But as I said this alone does not say very much, because even within the
regions there can be big differences, according to the altitude, the
cultivar and other factors as the type of extraction process. From another
research made on olives from the central-south of Italy result ratios of
oleic/linoleic varying from 5.9 to 17.0 (nr.29 1994). The lowest value in
this research is an oil from Frantoio olives in the province of Grosseto
(south-west Tuscany), the highest is from Leccino olives of Benevento (more
or less the area of Naples). But this is not necessarily a general
characteristic, so from Grosseto there are other oils with a ratio as high
as 12.6 or 14.1 +ACE-
Very important is also the content of antioxidants like polyphenolic
components and tocoferols (mainly alpha-tocopherol or vitamin E, see nr.17
1992), and the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids which should as
low as possible. Medium values in Italy are around 0.13 to 0.20
saturated/unsaturated.
It would be interesting to know some of these values for olive oils from the
Australian and NZ region.
Volker Piasta
http://toscana-toskana.de

reply to:Message: 3
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 11:24:27 EDT
From: AlFreedo+AEA-aol.com
Subject: Fatty acid composition of olive oil

Just read an article in Prevention magazine, +ACI-How Healthy Is Your Olive
Oil+ACI-
which suggests that the oleic acid in olive oil can protect against cancer.
Their analysis suggested that ratios of oleic/linoleic in different brands
can vary from 13.9 to 10.6. Does anyone know if the variability in
oleic/linoleic ratios a function of climate, variety or other factors?

Alan Friedman
</pre>
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