Formación del panel analítico para la Denominación de Origen Protegida “Aceituna Aloreña de Málaga” - Panel training programme for the Protected Designation of Origin “Aceituna Aloreña de Malaga”

Se presenta el programa de formación de catadores para la Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) “Aceituna Aloreña de Málaga”. Este programa, de 52 h de duración, se realiza en 2 etapas: una primera de selección (4 h) donde se eligen a los candidatos más adecuados entre industriales y técnicos del sector y una segunda de entrenamiento (48h) que consta de 2 fases: una primera general (12h) donde los catadores aprenden el vocabulario y desarrollan la memoria sensorial y una segunda específica (36h) donde se establece la forma de preparación de la muestra, las condiciones del ensayo, la hoja de perfil y los criterios de aceptación y rechazo para la DOP. Se valoran 9 atributos sensoriales: 4 de olor (frutado, verde/hierba, aliño y láctico), 2 de aroma (frutado y aliño), 2 sabores básicos (ácido y amargo) y 1 de textura (crocante) y la ausencia de defectos. La aceituna Aloreña de Málaga se caracteriza por su olor y aroma afrutado y a aliño, por su sabor amargo y por su textura crocante.


INTRODUCTION
Europe is known for the diversity of its farming and its agricultural products, which derive from its natural environment and farming methods developed over centuries.Europe has many different regions which have specific production methods and culinary traditions.As the exceptional nature and quality of some products derive from both their place of production and the methods used to make them, European Union law protects the names of these high quality regional food products within the Protected Geographical Status: PDO (protected designation of origin), PGI (protected geographical indication) and TSG (traditional specialty guaranteed).
The cracked, green, seasoned Aloreña is a table olive specialty whose production and consumer demand are progressively increasing (Arroyo-López et al., 2008b).There are three different processing styles of Aloreña table olives: the fresh green olives which develop a lactic fermentation in brine for a minimum of 3 days at a maximum temperature of 15 °C and are subsequently seasoned and finally packed; the traditional olives which also develop a lactic fermentation in brine but for a minimum of 20 days, then are seasoned and packed and cured olives that have a lactic fermentation in brine for a minimum of 90 days and are finally seasoned and packed (BOE nº 43, 2008/02/19).
The production and development area of the Aloreña olive from Málaga is a sub region of the southern Guadalhorce region, situated in the southwest of the province of Malaga (Spain) and has a total area of 230,500 hectares.The olive trees are influenced by the environmental conditions in which they grow, so the production area provides them with some very distinctive climatic characteristics, with moderate winters and In order to obtain a quality certification, it is neccesary to characterize the food product, with the sensory attributes having the most influence in differenciating among products (Pérez Elortondo et al., 2006).
The objective of the present work was to present the training programme of the "Aceituna Aloreña de Malaga" PDO panel.The programme includes the necessary criteria to assess the sensory attributes of the three processing styles of Aloreña table olives and the PDO requirements.

Samples
Table olive samples from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 growing seasons of the three processing styles of the Aloreña variety were used for the panel training and for the establishing of the requirements of the PDO Aceituna Aloreña de Málaga.

Selection and Training of the sensory panel
The procedure followed for the seleccion, training and monitoring of assessors was based on the criteria of ISO (1993) and Jellinek (1985).Recruiting of the panel was done by personal interview with open questions between producers and technicians of the product.The selection programme was carried out in two sessions of 2 hours each (4h).Seven tests were submitted to potential candidates with the aim of evaluating their ability to recognize, discriminate and describe stimuli (Table 1).Training (Tables 2 and 3) was done in two stages (48h): a basic training period (12h) in which the tasters developed their sensory memory and improved their aptitude for detecting, recognizing and describing the sensory stimuli, and a specific training period (36 h), in which they became familiarized with the profile sheet of the Aloreña table olives and learnt to recognize and quantify each attribute defined (Galán-Soldevilla et al., 2005;Ruiz Pérez-Cacho et al., 2005, Pérez-Cacho et al.,2005and 2008).The training finished when the evaluation method, requirements of the Aloreñatable olives for the PDO and the panel work as a whole were established.

Statistical analysis
Spreadsheet folder-profile software was used to analyze the data.The program was designed in accordance with that established for virgin olive oils opting for a PDO (IOOC, 2005).

Recruiting and selection
The recruiting of individuals was carried out among industrialists and technicians in the table olive sector in the Guadalhorce Valley (Málaga, Spain) area.From 20 individuals initially, 15 were pre-selected and 5 were eliminated, mainly for not having the time available.
Table 4 presents the results obtained in the selection tests.Of the 15 candidates evaluated, 12 were selected.Candidates nº 7, 14 and 15 did not pass the selection criteria and were rejected.Individuals nº 3, 6 and 12 did not pass the recognition and discrimination tests, although they showed a keenness for participating in the panel and it was decided to accept them (Ruiz Pérez-Cacho et al., 2005,Berodier et al., 1997).

Basic training
The individuals selected received 12 hours of basic training.This training was structured in theoretical and practical classes in which the candidates learnt the sensory language and the use of reference scales and improved their sensory memory (ISO, 1993, Gallerani et al., 2000, Ruiz Pérez-Cachoet al., 2005, ISO, 2008).

Specific training
The specific training period was carried out in nine sessions (36 h).During the first two sessions (sessions 1-2) the assessors became familiarized with the profile sheet developed by UCO panel, presented as Figure 1 (Galán-Soldevilla and Ruiz Pérez-Cacho, 2010).Sample preparation, serving and tasting procedures were also established.The olive samples were taken directly from the commercial containers and presented in normalized tasting glasses (IOOC, 2010) placing in each a minimum of 5 olives covered in brine from which the seasonings were previously removed.The glasses were covered with watch glasses and kept closed for at least 1 hour at room temperature before tasting.Mineral water was used for mouth rinsing between each sample.In each sample, first the odor was evaluated, then the flavor (aromas, basic tastes, and trigeminal sensations) and, finally, the texture attributes.The evaluation of the odor   was made by direct aspiration of the air over the tasting glass in 2 phases: first with the glass in place in order to detect any possible defects and then after shaking it gently to determine the different odor attributes.
Next, in two sessions (sessions 3-4) some references were selected to facilitate the comprehension and quantification of the attributes and the characteristic profile sheet for the PDO was drawn up (Figure 2).Two sensory attributes, hardness and piquant, were eliminated from the initial profile sheet because they were not relevant for characterizing the Aloreña table olives.Therefore, 9 positive descriptors were maintained to characterize "Aceituna Aloreña de Málaga": 4 odor (fruity, green, seasoning and lactic), 2 for aroma (fruity and seasoning), 2 for basic tastes (acid and bitter) and 1 for texture (crunchy).In addition, six odor negative attributes (musty/humid, winey/winegar, alpechin/vegetable water, rancid/ rancid butter, lupin and other) were added by the panel according to the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC, 2010).Table 5 shows the sensory attributes, their definitions and the references selected.
During sessions 5-6 of the specific training in open panels, the assessors worked with the profile sheet (Figure 2), learnt to quantify each attribute defined and to work in a group.In sessions 7-8 the panel established the requirements for the PDO Aceituna Aloreña de Málaga in accordance with IOOC (2005) (Table 6).Thus, for the green olives all the descriptors except for the green odor attribute have a mean value higher than 5 and a rCV % lower than 10; for the traditional olives, the seasoning odor and crunchy texture have a mean value higher than 5, the bitter taste higher than 3 and the fruity odor higher than zero, with the rCV % lower than 10 for all the attributes; finally the cured olives should have a seasoning odor and crunchy * Only for green and traditional table olives.** Only for cured table-olives.H. GALÁN-SOLDEVILLA AND P. RUIZ PÉREZ-CACHO texture with a mean value higher than 5 and a rCV % lower than 10.According to IOOC (2005), if the descriptor represents a characteristic that is of particular importance to the designation of origin, the rCV % limit should be as low as possible (  10) in order to ensure good precision and a reliable measurement.The green odor attribute was the most difficult one to evaluate by the panel and it was decided to choose a reasonable value for the robust coefficient of variation (  20).In addition, the olives presented for the PDO must correspond to the commercial categories "Extra" or "First" and not have any sensory defects perceptible to the panel except for very slight ones regarding color, shape, pulp or epidermis firmness (IOOC, 2004 and2010).Once the characteristic profiles of the PDO and its requirements were established, a statistics program was designed (spreadsheet folder-profile, software) for the analysis of the results.This program determines whether or not the samples analyzed fit the profile established by the PDO.The program is designed in accordance with the one established for virgin olive oils opting for a PDO (IOOC, 2005).
In the last session (session 9), nine samples were analyzed in tasting booths in order to check  7).The results show that the mean and robust coefficient of variation values for all the attributes and samples evaluated are according to the PDO requirements established except for the fruity odor of sample 8. Therefore, all the assessors worked with good precision and as a whole.

CONCLUSIONS
A new descriptive and discriminating language and their standard references were developed over the 15 panel sessions (52 hours) by a highly trained panel.A method was developed for the sensory assessment of Aloreña table olives in order to Gordal olive with stone.R 5 5 H. GALÁN-SOLDEVILLA AND P. RUIZ PÉREZ-CACHO obtain a certified product (PDO).This method establishes the necessary criteria to assess the sensory attributes of the three processing styles of "Aceituna Aloreña de Málaga".In addition, this method includes the training program for assessors and the requirements for the PDO "Aceituna Aloreña de Málaga".

Figure 1
Figure 1Sensory profile sheet Developed by the UCO panel.

*
Figure 2 Sensory profile sheet Developed by the PDO panel.*It is not a sensory defect for the cured olives.

Panel training programme for the Protected Designation of Origin "Aceituna Aloreña de Malaga"
PANEL TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR THE PROTECTED DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN "ACEITUNA ALOREÑA DE MALAGA" *Basic tastes test: 10 different solutions, 1 point for each correct solution.4 Basic tastes discrimination tests: 1 point for each correct test.Odor recognition and description test (5 odor substances): describe and identify 5 3describe or identify

)
Session 1-2: confirmation of the lexicon developed by the UCO trained panel and development of new terms for describing alora table-olives and establishment of the test conditions.

Table 4 Results of candidates in the selection Candidate no. Basic tastes recognition test Ranking tests Points (  9/14) Odor recognition and description test Table-olives description test Points (  24/43) Candidate selected
PANEL TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR THE PROTECTED DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN "ACEITUNA ALOREÑA DE MALAGA"

Table 7 Median value and rCV of sensory attributes evaluated in the three processing styles of Alora table-olives harvested in 2011 Samples Sensory attributes Fruit odor Green odor Seasoning odor Bitter taste Crunchy texture
*median value (M); ** Robust coefficient of variation rCV.