Izmir – The International Olive Oil Council organized a course for leaders of panels for virgin olive oil tasting at the Bornova Olive Research Center, Izmir, Turkey. Some40 experts participated, from Algeria, Croatia, Greece, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia and Turkey.
Juan Ramón Izquierdo, the course director, outlined the IOC method for organoleptic assessment of virgin olive oil, the general concepts of sensory and physiological analysis, the role of tasters and the panel leader, factors that influence sensory measurements and the legislation that regulates panel tests. Ana Peris and Mª Luisa Ruiz Domínguez presented the comparative quality control tests in relation to the standard UNE-EN ISO / IEC 17025: 2017.
The lessons continued with readings by Luis Guerrero on tasting variation within panels, and on software for data analysis.
The Executive Director, Abdellatif Ghedira, and Deputy Executive Directors Jaime Lillo and Mustafa Sepetçi were in attendance. The Head of the Technology and Environment Unit, Abdelkrim Adi, thanked the Turkish authorities and specifically Mrs Ümmühan Tibet, the Chair of the Turkish Olive Oil Council, for organising the international course.
The course ended with a guided technical tour of the Ethos region to visit the OLEATRIUM museum, which houses one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of equipment and tools for olive growing in the world.
The Izmir course was organised by the Technical and Environmental Unit of the IOC and coordinated by Catarina Bairrao, the Head of the Training Department.
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