TITLE:
Virgin Olive Oil Acceptability in Emerging Olive Oil-Producing Countries
AUTHORS:
Adriana Gámbaro, Ana Claudia Ellis, Laura Raggio
KEYWORDS:
Olive Oil; Consumer Study; Olive Oil Quality
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.4 No.10,
September
25,
2013
ABSTRACT: A sample of 99 habitual consumers
sensory-evaluated 2 extra virgin and 2 ordinary olive oils in terms of overall
liking and willingness to purchase based on 9-point structured scales and
responded to a check-all-that-apply question comprising a list of 18 positive
and negative attributes. In the second session, the same consumers evaluated the same oils also based on
their respective commercial specifications and sensory profiles previously
prepared by a panel of 9 trained tasters. Two consumer clusters with
contrasting behavior were identified. Whereas 52% of respondents gave high
overall liking scores to the extra virgin oils and scores below commercially
acceptable limits to those of ordinary virgin quality, 48% gave low overall
liking scores to the extra virgin oils and high overall liking scores to those
oils that were defective. Consumers of neither cluster were influenced by the
information made available in Session 2. Although a slight majority of
consumers described the oils consistently with the sensory profiles available
from the tasting panel, an alarmingly large number of respondents described the
two extra virgin oils in terms of defective, bad-tasting, strange-tasting, poor
quality and rancid, and those oils that were defective in terms of good
quality, tasty, sweet, aromatic, mild-flavored, delicious and fresh. These
results highlight the need for the implementation of relevant consumer
sensitization programs in emerging olive-producing countries like Uruguay,
where virgin olive oils of varied quality are locally available.