EFFECT OF ACIDITY ON DELTA 7 STIGMASTENOL CONTENT OF PALESTINIAN OLIVE OIL

Olive oil quality is a term influenced by many factors. 7 Stigmastenol is a new criteria used to determine olive oil quality especially its purity from adulteration with other types of seeds oil. 7 Stigmastenol-acidity correlation were investigated through studying the effect of the literature?s highlighted factors, namely; Olive fly infection, the land topographic and the preservation of olive before pressing. In this study,13 olive samples were collected and analyzed from different areas in Palestine to study the factors that affect 7 Stigmastenol in Olive Oil. This study starts on October 2007 and ends on July 2008. The results obtained were very interesting and varied between having positive 7 Stigmastenol-acidity correlation as in case of infection mode factors and preservation of olive fruit before pressing negative 7 Stigmastenol-acidity correlation for other factors as found to the land topographic factors. Further studies are needed to investigate the correlation between acidity and other factors.