Argentina Receives Its First Geographical Indication for Olive Oil

Extra vir­gin olive oil pro­duced in the west­ern Argentine province of Mendoza will receive Protected Geographical Indication sta­tus by the end of the month.

The seal of qual­ity that pro­tects the extra vir­gin olive oils from imi­ta­tion or coun­ter­feit­ing will for­mally come into force 30 days after it was pub­lished by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.

To qual­ify for pro­tected sta­tus, the extra vir­gin olive oils must be pro­duced using a min­i­mum of 20 per­cent to a max­i­mum of 50 per­cent of the native Arauco vari­ety. The remain­der of the oil must include Frantoio, Arbequina, Farga, Coratina, Picual or Koroneiki olives.

The local pro­duc­ers and offi­cials believe the PGI is an appro­pri­ate step in giv­ing more value to qual­ity pro­duc­tions.

“A seal that allows iden­ti­fi­ca­tion by ori­gin is very impor­tant for Mendoza’s olive grow­ing,” Alfredo Baroni, the tech­ni­cal coor­di­na­tor at the Rural Development Institute, told Olive Oil Times. ​“We believe that it is an oppor­tu­nity to pos­i­tively posi­tion local olive grow­ing [on the mar­ket] and sus­tain at least part of the tra­di­tional olive trees of the Arauco vari­ety, which pro­duce a much supe­rior oil, but with very low yields and which in many cases are found on small prop­er­ties.”

“The olive tree has always been a very impor­tant agri­cul­tural and agro-indus­trial activ­ity for Mendoza, which accom­pa­nied the wine indus­try,” he added. ​“Under this point of view, it is time to catch up with [the wine indus­try].”

Baroni said the new geo­graph­i­cal indi­ca­tion ​“is an oppor­tu­nity to accom­pany the efforts being made by var­i­ous local busi­ness­men to high­light the qual­ity of local oils in var­i­ous inter­na­tional com­pe­ti­tions.”

According to the Argentine reg­u­la­tion, Mendoza olive oil was granted PGI sta­tus because the olives grown in the province endow the oils with spe­cific qual­i­ties or char­ac­ter­is­tics not found in olive oils pro­duced else­where in Argentina.

The Ministry of Agriculture describes the sen­sory pro­file of Mendoza PGI extra vir­gin olive oil as ​“fruiti­ness, with other pos­i­tive attrib­utes such as bit­ter­ness and pun­gency of medium-high inten­sity; and zero defects. Full-bod­ied, heavy and thick on the palate. On the nose, it stands out for a light fruiti­ness, absence of defects.”

“The char­ac­ter­is­tics of Mendoza oils change accord­ing to the vari­etal com­po­si­tion,” Mónica Mirábile, an agri­cul­tural sci­ence pro­fes­sor and researcher at the National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), in Mendoza, told Olive Oil Times. ​“In gen­eral, they are intense oils, where bit­ter­ness and spici­ness pre­vail. They are fruity, and the olive leaf and tomato stand out.”

The UNCuyo panel test played a piv­otal role in ana­lyz­ing the unique­ness of the new PGI. Mirábile said the local extra vir­gin olive oil has a high oleic acid con­tent due to ​“the lat­i­tude of cul­ti­va­tion and Mediterranean cli­mate.”

She added how approx­i­mately 30 per­cent of Mendoza’s olive groves com­prise Arbequina, with 20 per­cent devoted to Arauco.

“Still, we also have the pres­ence of other vari­eties such as Frantoio, Farga, Coratina, Picual, Koroneiki and Changlot,” Mirábile said.

As a result, local blends include the two vari­eties in the major­ity. The result­ing extra vir­gin olive oils present phys­i­cal-chem­i­cal and sen­sory attrib­utes highly depen­dent on the pro­por­tion of the deployed cul­ti­vars.

“In blends with Arbequina, fruity notes of banana and apple and nuts pre­dom­i­nate; less bit­ter and pun­gent. Harmonious,” Mirábile said.

When Arauco olives are in the major­ity, blends tend to present ​“herba­ceous notes, leaves and veg­eta­bles” with a more bit­ter and pun­gent note.

Mirábile added how blends with Arauco ​“have a higher per­cent­age of oleic acid, close to 70 per­cent, a very good value.”

“On the other hand, there is a good amount of phe­no­lic com­pounds that, as they are antiox­i­dants, increase the shelf life of the olive oil and are ben­e­fi­cial to human health,” she said.

The expected con­tents of the new PGI include 60 per­cent or more oleic acid, a total acid­ity infe­rior to 0.6 per­cent, more than 100 parts per mil­lion of polyphe­nols and less than 12 per­cent of per­ox­ides.

The sig­nif­i­cance of olive oil in the Argentine agri-food econ­omy has been steadily grow­ing. According to the most recent data from Juan Vilar Strategic Consultants, it is the thir­teenth coun­try in the world in terms of sur­face area devoted to olive grow­ing.

It is also the eleventh-largest olive oil pro­ducer, with 65 per­cent of that being vir­gin or extra vir­gin olive oil.

While the Mendoza extra vir­gin olive oil is the first PGI in the coun­try, offi­cials believe that this could be just the begin­ning of rec­og­niz­ing farm­ers’ work and giv­ing more value to local qual­ity pro­duc­tions.

“I hope that hap­pens and that [the PGI announce­ment] will encour­age other provinces and other regions of Argentina to do the same,” Baroni con­cluded. ​“I believe that many places meet the cor­rect con­di­tions, such as San Juan or the olive trees in Patagonia.”

• Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries
• Juan Vilar Strategic Consulants