Sensory evaluation and consumer perception of some commercial green table olives

Purpose - The objective of this study is to evaluate the physico-chemical and sensorial characteristics of some commercial green table olives. Also,. it seeks to elaborate the sensorial background of consumer preferences of different green table olives. Design/methodology/approach - Four green table olive samples (Celebi, Domat, Kaba, and Ayvalik) commonly consumed in Turkey were chosen and collected from a local producer. Dimensional measures, salt content, pH value, oil content, titrable acidity, L value, a* value, b* value and texture of samples were assessed by the AOAC methods. A panel described and measured the appearance (greenness, yellowness, globeness), aroma (fresh olive, vinegary, soapy, musty), flavour (sour, salty, bitter, hay, oily) and texture properties (firmness, flesh/stone adherence, fibrousness, watery). In addition, 50 consumers evaluated hedonic values. Findings - The salt content, pH value, oil content, titrable acidity, L value, a value, b* value and texture of samples were found to following values 2.91-5.46 percent, 2.80-3.97, 4.67-18.71 percent, 0.59-1.40 percent, 49.96-69.56, 1.35-17.91, 19.57-45.47 and 434.1-895.7 g. Although prepared with the same technique, many properties of the olives were found different. This difference affected consumer preference and buying intentions as well. Research limitations/implications - The paper provides scientific data for researchers to design similar sensory descriptive analyses for different table olive samples. Originality/value - The paper is helpful both to consumers and traders to determine the proximate and sensory attributes of commercial green olive samples.