Effects of the divers olive harvesting systems on oil quality

Three olives harvesting systems from the tree have been compared (manual, facilitated and mechanical) through experimental trials carried out respectively in three plots of a Calabrian olive orchard in the Province of Crotone. The grove is traditional and monovarietal, composed of Carolea cultivar with a planting density of about 150 plants ha-1. In this study, work productivity in three divers sites where harvesting was achieved according to different systems has been examined, as well as their effects on produced oil quality. Olives have been harvested by mean of sticks and nets in the manual harvesting (system I), by mechanical aids and nets in the facilitated harvesting (system II), and finally, by mean of trunk shaker and nets in mechanical harvesting (system III).The different work sites have been examined in terms of work productivity, as well as in terms of impact on final product quality, through the withdrawal of a series of oil samples extracted separately and analyzed in laboratory. From the effectuated trials, it has emerged that the site operating with mechanical harvesting has achieved the best results, both from quantitative and qualitative points of view. Indeed, olives harvested mechanically, certainly more intact than those harvested with other systems, produced oil with the best organoleptic parameters.