The use of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatments for table olives preservation

“Cornezuelo” dressed olives in a traditional way are highly valued for their excellent organoleptic characteristics but bear the drawback of low stability. In this study Cornezuelo dressed olives were treated with four different high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatments (400 MPa for 5 and 10 min and 600 MPa for 5 and 10 min respectively, A, B, C and D respectively). Changes in physico-chemical properties were measured in treated and not treated olives during the storage under ambient temperature conditions (up to 335 days).Treated olives showed higher stability (pH and free acidity values) and firmness but no significant differences were observed for colour. The control samples obtained low values for sensory analysis after 120 days of storage, not accomplishing the conditions for the market after 186 days. The treatment A samples obtained higher overall punctuations while treatments B, C and D samples did not reach much better punctuations than control ones in the sensory analysis.In summary, in the present study, the results showed that only one of the high pressure treatments extended the shelf life of the Cornezuelo dressed olives following the traditional recipe.Industrial relevanceThe use of high hydrostatic pressure treatments recommended in the present study can enhance the short shelf-life of the highly appreciated Cornezuelo table olives prepared without preservatives in a traditional way and, therefore, can expand their business to new markets. This research was performed based on producers' demands and it is foreseen to be transferred to the table olive sector soon. Additionally, these kind of traditional recipes are widely spread over the Mediterranean countries, making this research more interesting to be applied in other countries

► The use of HHP treatments for olives preservation.
► Treatments at lower pressure gave better results for firmness.
► No significant differences found for colour between treated and not treated samples.
► Treated samples obtained better results from sensory panel.
► Treatment at lower pressure and less time showed better sensory results.