The Oleum project that started in 2016 and is now concluding its cycle was a project funded under Horizon 2020 EU fund (Grant agreement ID: 635690) and aimed in the development of new and improved existing analytical methods for detecting fraud and ensuring quality of olive oil. Oleum consortium is a diverse team of experts in laboratory-based problem solving, exploitation of state-of-the-art legislation and technology, industrial validation and up-scaling, and communication and knowledge exchange.
Among the 20 partners covering 13 countries that have joined forces in this project is also AUTH and in specific the Research unit Laboratory of Food Chemistry & Technology (LFCT) headed – at that time – by Professor Maria Tsimidou. The Laboratory has a long and proven experience in the areas of olive oil chemistry, heated oils chemistry, analysis of minor constituents of oils and fats (main focus on the importance of tocopherols, polyphenols, hydrocarbons and pigments to the oxidative stability of olive oil), natural products and natural antioxidants, among various other aspects of food chemistry, food technology, biotechnology and oenology.
Within Oleum project Research unit Laboratory of Food Chemistry & Technology (LFCT) from AUTH has developed a new method to determine total hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol content in olive oil to support the health claim for ‘olive oil polyphenols’ according to EC regulation 432/2012. Below it can be found a link to a demonstration video for this method by Dr Nikolaos Nenadis: