Journal of Food Research; Vol. 9, No. 2; 2020 ISSN 1927-0887 E-ISSN 1927-0895 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 48 Impact of Growing Area and Technological Aspects on Lebanese Olive Oil: Characterization by Unsupervised Methods Omar H. Dib 1, 2 , Ali Bassal 2 , Hussein Dib 2 , Rita Yaacoub 2 , Nathalie Locquet 1 , Luc Eveleigh 3 & Christophe B. Y. Cordella 1 1 UMR PNCA, AgroParisTech, INRA, Université Paris-Saclay, Paris, France 2 Department of Food Science and Technology, Lebanese University, Beirut, Dekweneh, Lebanon 3 Ingénierie Procédés Aliments, INRA, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Massy, France Correspondence: Omar H. Dib, UMR PNCA, AgroParisTech, INRA, Université Paris-Saclay, Paris, France. Tel: 961-382-1834. E-mail: dibhomar@gmail.com Received: January 28, 2020 Accepted: March 2, 2020 Online Published: March 26, 2020 doi:10.5539/jfr.v9n2p48 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/jfr.v9n2p48 Abstract The influence of growing-area and technological aspects on the Lebanese Soury variety is presented. The pedoclimatic conditions, quality parameters, and fatty acids of oil samples were examined using chemometric tools to demonstrate the typicality of Lebanese olive oil. Furthermore, the effect of several technological factors on olive oil quality was studied. Accordingly, olive oil samples were collected across Lebanon corresponding to two climatic zones (Zone A: Low-altitude regions; Zone B: High-altitude regions). Principal component analysis was capable of discriminating the two zones with distinct fatty acid profiles. Zone A exhibited a fatty acid profile mostly dominated by linoleic, linolenic, palmitic, and palmitoleic acid content. As for zone B, it showed a unique fatty acid profile distinguished by oleic acid. These results are mostly attributed to the climatic effect and the altitude of the growing area. Moreover, independent component analysis, coupled to one-way ANOVA, demonstrated that significant differences (p<0.05) were found in quality indices (acidity and peroxide value) as well as fatty acid contents (oleic and linoleic acid) when comparing uncontrolled to controlled extraction methods. This study provides a baseline for future intensive characterization of Lebanese olive oil and detects the non-compliances attributed to the disqualification of olive oil virginity. Keywords: chemometric tools, fatty acid, growing area, olive oil, quality assessment 1. Introduction Olive trees cover 5.4 % of the Lebanese territory or 8 % of total agricultural lands in Lebanon (Investment Development Authority in Lebanon [IDAL], 2017). Olive groves, almost solely rain-fed, are dispersed over the provinces of Lebanon, producing 24,000 tons of olive oil per year ( International Olive Council [IOC], 2018). This production is being conducted by 485 registered mills scattered throughout Lebanon. About 85% of the mills still rely on traditional-extraction systems, particularly pressing method (Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture [MOA], 2012). Granite millstones and nylon fiber mats, the basic components of the pressing mill, are still being used despite their high susceptibility to contamination, and most prominently, their effect on olive oil components (Giovacchino, 2000). Olive paste remnants on mats can initiate several biological and chemical processes affecting the virginity of olive oil. Olive quality may deteriorate by other technological variables occurring before and after processing. Irrational practices during fruit transport and olive and olive oil storage may lead to the lipolysis of triglycerides and to the chemical oxidation of fatty acids affecting the major constituents of olive oil (Gharbi et al., 2015). Besides the technological aspect, a wide variety of factors such as olive cultivar (Aguilera et al., 2005), fruit maturity (Amanpour et al., 2019), and growing area (Arslan et al., 2013) have a significant influence on olive oil chemical composition. Among these factors, the effect of the growing area is undeniably of primary importance, especially on the fatty acid profile (Aguilera et al., 2005). In most studies, altitude and climate have a vast impact on the profile of fatty acids. For example, countries close to the equator tend to have a higher palmitic, palmitoleic, linoleic and alpha-linolenic concentrations in contrary to those with a very cool climate where a