Effects of type of packaging material on physicochemical and sensory properties of olive oil

This study was performed to evaluate changes in physicochemical and sensory attributes of olive oil stored in different packaging materials for up to 60 days. The olive oil samples from a local company (Ajlon-Jordan) were stored in containers made from glass, tinplate, and plastic for two months at 25°C with quality attributes analyzed at selected time intervals. The results showed that as time increased from 0 to 60 days the acidity and peroxide values (PV) of the oil increased while antioxidant activities, total phenolics, and sensory attributes decreased. The samples in the glass container exhibited the lowest acidity (1.25% to 1.53%) and PV (6.13 to 7.17 milliequivalents meq/kg) values followed by those stored in the plastic and tinplate containers. The lowest antioxidant activities and total phenolics values were recorded in oil from the tinplate container while no significant difference (p≤0.05) was found for samples in the glass and plastic containers. The oil in the tinplate container had the highest values of sedimentation (0.17%). The glass container provided the best protection to oil samples as indicated by the best sensory properties, followed by plastic and tinplate containers.