Comparison of Physicochemical Properties of Edible Libyan Olive Oils and other international Olive Oils

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics of olive oils. The samples collected from three different olive rom Benghazi city. In addition, Tunisian and Italian olive oil samples were used as compared samples. The Moisture, %FFA, acid value, saponification number, ester value, peroxide values, and their applicability as edible oils were examined. Based on our results the physio-chemical characteristics of olive oils from Benghazi presses have a significantly high acid value of 19.98 and 10.97 besides, % FFA was ranged from 5.527 to 10.064% of oleic acid for sample No. 3 and sample No. 1 respectively, and the B3 sample has a maximum moisture content of 0.47% m/m and the minimum content of moisture 0.0882%m/m for Italian sample. Meanwhile, the ester values varied between 164.89 to194.53 mg KOH/g, and the peroxide values ranged between 0.527 to 0.784 Meq O2/kg and have a saponification value from184.884 to 195.922. The concluded results were in agreement with the International Olive Oil Council's (IOOC) permissible ranges, with exception for the acid value and free fatty acid percentage in olive oil presses from Benghazi city.