AGM
An enjoyable, noisy and convivial evening was had by all at the Cazador Restaurant in Mt Eden for the AGM.
After consuming copious amounts of selected wines (BYO) the assembly re-elected L. Eyres as chairman and R.A. Eyres as Hon Secretary. The position of Treasurer is vacant as Shane Lal has departed for Australia. The Chairman’s report was distributed pointing out that after the conference, paying for the large amount of stock of the handbook and after contributing towards Professor Ed Decker’s attendance at NZIFST, we still had funds left.
The Chairman was so excited to finish the AGM in twenty seconds he forgot to pay tribute to Dr. Allan Woolf, Cecilia Requejo-Jackman, Dr.Marie Wong (Massey) and their colleagues at Plant and Food Research ,who have just had their work on avocado oil published in “Gourmet and Health promoting Specialty Oils”. This book, hot off the press by AOCS will be reviewed soon in Food New Zealand.
OLIVE OIL PROCESSING COURSE
This successful course organised by Olives New Zealand was held at the superb premises of Ross and Maggie Legh in Whangaripo Valley (near Wellsford). This enterprising couple has given the olive industry in NZ a strong vote of confidence with the opening of their processing factory on Whangaripo Valley Road, east of Wellsford.
Ross and Maggie processed 18 tonnes of fruit at The Olive Place last year, but they hope to see this quantity rise to close to 100 tonnes this year a season in future.
“This is an emerging industry in NZ with huge opportunities and potential,” Ross says. “Our aim is to establish The Olive Place as a centre of excellence – a place where people in the industry and the general public can learn more about what makes a really good olive oil.”
Ross and Maggie purchased their 12-hectare property, formerly owned by Frith Farms, in 2003. It’s north facing with gentle slopes, making it ideal for the 650 olive trees which now grow where sheep once grazed. Based on advice from nurseryman Mike Reilly, they have planted 10 different cultivars including leccino, koroneki and frantoio.
They have also planted hundreds of native trees, fenced off and landscaped along a stream that runs through the property, and hope to one day breed purebreds from their six white Galloway cattle.
A feature of the property is a purpose-built 650 square metre processing factory which houses a state-of-the-art Alfa Laval oil press, imported from Italy. The press can handle 500kg of olives an hour and while there are bigger presses in NZ, the Alfa Laval is large by local standards. An upstairs conference room will be utilised for training seminars, cooking demonstrations, industry workshops and meetings.
Everything has been designed to accommodate growth.
“I’d like to think that through the centre we can help a new industry, which has largely grown from the hobby farm sector, develop the technical know-how to meet commercial realities,” Ross says.
For marketing purposes, he also sees the need to regionalise brands in a similar way to the wine industry.
“The number of labels on the market at the moment is confusing for the consumer. Centralising distribution and marketing will also help keep costs down, as current prices of around $25-$28 a bottle are unsustainable.”
Ross sees technology, such as his ‘near infra red analyser’ which can predict the amount of oil in the fruit, taking some of the guesswork out of the production process.
It takes just five minutes to get a result, which HortResearch in Auckland could take up to a week to deliver. In practical terms, it means that growers will be able to use the results to choose the optimum time to harvest their fruit.
The $60,000 piece of equipment also helps Ross monitor how the plant is running.
“When we know how much oil is in the fruit, then we can predict how much oil we should be getting from the pressing,” he says. “Fonterra is possibly the only other industry in NZ using this type of technology at the moment.”
Other features of the building are its spaciousness and use of natural light. Future plans include a composting system for on-site disposal of all waste and the possibility of producing a fuel for fires from the pits is being investigated. There is also talk of taking on a PhD or Masters student.
“Olive trees start bearing when they are about three years old and most of the 200,000 trees planted north of Auckland are about five years old. So, as long as we don’t get anymore storms like we did last year, we’re going to see an explosion in the amount of fruit available in the next few years.
“NZ product is far superior to anything you will find on the supermarket shelves. I think the industry’s future lies in targeting the demand for boutique product, such as extra virgin oil which makes up about five percent of the market worldwide.
Ross (a professional engineer) has built a first class processing plant, modern laboratory, seminar room and state of the art waste-treatment plant in a beautiful rural setting. The place is a tribute to his vision. We wish him and Maggie the best of success.
EV OLIVE OIL AND HEALTH
Scientists have determined the active constituent of olive oil with the most potent antioxidant activity which “may be” the key constituent protecting olive oil consumers from cardiovascular disease. The study published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, focuses on DHPEA-EDA as the ingredient protecting red blood cells from damage.( 3,4-DHPEA-EDA (the dialdehydic form of elenolic acid linked with 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethanol) is one of the main derivatives of oleuropein found in olive oil.)
These findings provide the scientific basis for the clear health benefits that have been seen in people who have olive oil in their diet,” says lead researcher Fatima Paiva-Martins, who works at the University of Porto.
They state that heart disease is caused partly by reactive oxygen, including free radicals, acting on LDL or “bad” cholesterol and resulting in hardening of the arteries. Red blood cells are particularly susceptible to oxidative damage because they are the body’s oxygen carriers.
OXIDATION OF FOOD GRADE OILS
Dr Matt Miller of Plant & Food Research in Nelson has produced a very good summary of the mechanism of rancidity, tests used to detect the deterioration and key methods for prevention. This 2-page document (very easy to understand) is available on the oils and fats website or by contacting Dr. Miller at millerm@crop.cri.nz .
BOOK REVIEW
TRANS FATTY ACIDS IN HUMAN NUTRITION -
Edited by Frédéric Destaillats (Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland), Jean-Louis Sébédio (INRA, St Genes Champanelle, France), Fabiola Dionisi (Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland) and Jean-Michel Chardigny (INRA, Clermont-Ferrand, France).
2009. Hard cover. 442 pages, 82 figures, 39 tables and 1221 references. ISBN 978-0-9552512-3-8.
Volume 23 in The Oily Press Lipid Library. Price £85 or US$174.
Trans fatty acids are still a hot topic in Australasia despite FSANZ and NZFSA reports showing that our average intake is below that recommended by WHO.
Consumers are still asking the following: What are trans fatty acids? What is the problem with them with regard to human health?
Where do we find them in food products and how can we avoid them?
What are the alternatives and is industry doing its utmost to eliminate them from the food supply.
This book answers all the questions in a lucid and well written format as is the usual offering from the Oily press. The chapters on Epidemiology and Metabolism are enlightening and go along way to explaining the nutritional problems with these ingredients in our diet.
The book is readable, well referenced and is up-to date with all the relevant issues surrounding TFA. I would recommend it for Industry, academia, health professionals and the legislators.
In this completely rewritten Second Edition of Trans Fatty Acids in Human Nutrition, authors who are recognized international authorities in their field have addressed the major areas of trans fatty acids (TFA) research such as consumption, analysis, biochemistry, synthesis and natural TFA biosynthesis, health effects, food formulation, and also regulation and consumer perception. Each chapter contains the latest references and major advances and breakthroughs in a specific area of trans fatty acids research. Furthermore, the book also includes a discussion of a major issue – the health effects of the `natural trans isomers’, comparing their effects to those observed for TFA produced during hydrogenation.
The availability of so much information in a single volume will help to clarify the major effects of TFA in human nutrition discovered over the last two decades and guide the next generation of scientists to the important opportunities for making further progress in this challenging field of research.
The First Edition carried out a very similar task for the state of our knowledge in the late 1990s but the rapid expansion and progress in the subject meant that it had to be completely re-written and expanded from the original 9 to the present 15 chapters of the Second Edition.
The contents include chapters dealing with:
- Prologue
Bruce German - Biosynthesis of trans fatty acids in ruminants
Francis Enjalbert and Annabelle Troegeler-Meynadier - Formation of trans fatty acids during catalytic hydrogenation of edible oils
Jean-Baptiste Bezelgues and Albert J. Dijkstra - Formation of trans fatty acids during deodorisation of edible oils
Jean-Baptiste Bezelgues and Frédéric Destaillats - Chemical synthesis of monunsaturated trans fatty acids
Zephirin Mouloungui and Laure Candy - Analysis of trans fatty acids of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and dairy products
W.M. Nimal Ratnayake and Cristina Cruz-Hernandez - Replacement of partially hydrogenated oils in food products: a technological challenge
Guillermo Napolitano and Francesca Giuffrida - Metabolism of trans fatty acid isomers
Jean-Louis Sébédio and William W. Christie - Biosynthesis and biological activity of rumenic acid: a natural CLA isomer
Adam L. Lock, Jana Kraft, Beth H. Rice and Dale E. Bauman - Biosynthesis, synthesis and biological activity of trans-10,cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomer
Delphine Tissot-Favre and Mark Waldron - Observational epidemiological studies on intake of trans fatty acids and risk of ischaemic heart disease
Marianne Uhre Jakobsen and Kim Overvad - Dietary trans fatty acids and cardiovascular disease risk
Corinne Malpuech-Brugère, Béatrice Morio and Ronald P. Mensink - Dietary trans fatty acids: from the mother’s diet to the infant
Jean-Michel Chardigny and Nicole Combe - Evolution of worldwide consumption of trans fatty acids
Margaret C. Craig-Schmidt and Yinghui Rong - Legislation relating to trans fatty acids
Koenraad Duhem - Consumer concerns and risk perception related to trans fatty acids
Clotilde Aubertin
- Laurence Eyres, FNZIFST