Characterization and discrimination of three Moroccan cultivars of virgin olive oil (''Picholine'',''Menara'' and ''Hawziya'')

The aim of this study was to characterize the olive oils from three olive varieties most cultivated in morocco. 36 samples of olive oils representative of three cultivars (menara, hawziya and picholine) were collected and stored at 4°c. a chemical characterization of these samples was carried out by determining free acidity, peroxide value and spectrophotometric index. the same samples were also analyzed by using gas chromatography. chemometric discrimination was performed by using partial least square discriminant analysis (pls-da) carried out on the means of the fatty acid compositions in the samples of virgin olive oil (voo) and fully correct classification of the three moroccan cultivars was then obtained.