Projects

Since 2008 the Olive Center has developed more than 150 projects, yielded dozens of journal publications, delivered over 50 short courses and free events, mentored almost 100 undergraduate and graduate students and generated more than $5 million in research grants and campus resources.

  • Screening and selection of natural enemies of the olive fruit fly (Daane and Johnson, 2008 and 2009)
  • Olive fruit fly monitoring (Krueger, Stewart, Simpson, 2008-13)
  • Controlling stem canker and branch dieback (Gubler, 2008 - 2009)
  • Effects of climate change on olive fly populations in California (Gutierrez, 2009)
  • Olive fruit fly resistance to spinosad (Zalom, 2010)
  • Achieving efficient mechanical harvesting of table olives (Ferguson et.al, 2008-15)
  • Appraising the threat of olive psyllid (Johnson, 2010)
  • The invasive potential of the Mediterranean fruit fly in California and Italy (Gutierrez, 2011)
  • Epidemiology and management of olive knot (Fichtner, 2011 - 2012)
  • Epidemiology and management of olive knot (Adaskaveg, 2011-2013)
  • Characterization of latent viral infection of the olive collection at the USDA germplasm repository (Al Rwahnih, et al, 2011)
  • Evaluating parasitoid for control of the olive psyllid (Pickett, 2011 – 15)
  • Best practices for olive production; mobile electronic format (Flynn, 2012-13)
  • Moderating alternate bearing through plant-growth regulators (Fichtner and Lovatt, 2012-14)
  • Grower guidelines for the use of Danitol to control olive fruit fly (Zalom, 2013 - 14)
  • Evaluating parasitoid for the control of olive fruit fly (Daane, 2013-16)
  • Investigating high temperature on fruit set (Jernstedt, 2014)
  • Demonstrating that mechanical pruning can moderate alternative bearing and produce commercial yields (Ferguson, 2014)
  • Propagating dwarf rootstocks for mechanically harvested orchards (Ferguson, Preece, 2013-14)
  • Establishing olive foundation block (Golino, 2014)
  • Olive fly trapping (Lightle, 2015)
  • Olive fly management (Zalom, Lightle, Symmes, Tollerup, 2015 proposed)
  • Table olive sensory research for CA and imported black-ripe table olives. (Guinard, 2009)
  • Sensory analysis of hand-picked and mechanically harvesting black-ripe olives (Guinard, 2009)
  • Comparing consumers with experts in olive oil sensory analysis (Delgado, Guinard, 2010)
  • A modified sorting task to investigate consumer perceptions of extra virgin olive oil (Santosa, Abdi and Guinard, 2010)
  • Sensory analysis of different cultivars for black-ripe processing (Lee and Guinard, 2011)
  • Sensory analysis of domestic and imported olive oils (Delgado and Guinard, 2011)
  • Means-Ends chains analysis of extra virgin olive oils (Santosa and Guinard, 2011)
  • Nutritional and biological properties of extra virgin olive oil (Frankel, 2011)
  • Volatile constituents of commercial imported and domestic black-ripe table olives (Sansone and Takeoka, 2013)
  • Examining chemical markers for flavor attributes in black-ripe table olives (Takeoka, Guinard and Lee, 2011-13)
  • Evaluating styrene content of table olives (Wang, 2012)
  • Supermarket olive oil quality analysis (Frankel, Wang, et al, 2010 and 2011)
  • Examining chemistry and sensory of California olive oil (Wang and Holstege, COOC, 2011 – 12)
  • Foodservice olive oil quality analysis (Wang, 2012)
  • Impact of refrigeration and freezing on olive oil quality (Wang and Li, 2013)
  • Evaluating olive oil shelf life (Wang and Cantrill, 2012 - 14)
  • Evaluating bottles and labels versus tasting the oils blind: Effects of packaging and labeling on consumer preferences, purchase intentions and expectations for extra virgin olive oil (Santosa, Rico and Guinard, 2013)
  • Developing sensory reference samples (Wang and Langstaff, 2013 – 15)
  • Training an olive oil sensory panel for the USDA (Langstaff, 2013)
  • Training USDA inspectors on table olive analysis (Langstaff, 2014)
  • Nobody Can See Atoms: Science Camps Highlighting Approaches for Making Chemistry Accessible to Blind and Visually-Impaired Students (Wedler, et al, 2013)
  • Analyzing process for minimizing acrylamide in table olives (Tang and Wang, 2014)
  • Analyzing volatile compounds in US olive oils (Wang and Zhu, 2013 - 14)
  • Analyzing volatile compounds of defective olive oils (Wang and Zhu, 2013-14)
  • Publishing textbook on olive oil sensory science (Langstaff and Guinard, 2014)
  • Analyzing the fatty acid and sterol profiles of US olive oils (Wang and Flynn, 2012 – 15)
  • Analyzing pre-processing cold storage on olive oil quality (Wang and Li, 2014)
  • Evaluating California olive oil test results for quality and purity (Li, Wang, Flynn, 2015-16)

  • Analyzing the fatty acid and sterol profiles of CA olive oils (Li, Wang and Flynn, 2015-16)

  • Evaluating the shelf life of EVOO from packaged in different color glass containers (Wang and Li, 2015-16)

  • Analyzing acrylamide in black-ripe table olives (Mitchell, 2009 - 12)
  • Collecting residual olive oil from table olive processing through electromagnetic process (Ristenpart, 2011)
  • Effects of pectinolytic yeast on the microbial composition and spoilage of olive fermentations (Marco, 2010 -14)
  • Natural additive to table olives to improve nutrition and reduce sodium (Flynn and Wang 2012-13)
  • Examining whether hydroxytyrosol generated through olive mill wastewater can pass through to eggs when fed to hens. (Calvert, 2011)
  • Examining whether hydroxytyrosol generated through olive mill wastewater can extend shelf life of processed chicken (King, 2011 – 13)
  • A critical literature review of table olive processing (Frankel, 2011)
  • Literature review of microbiological safety of olive oil (Harris and Palumbo, 2012)
  • Examining methods for extracting polyphenols and other neutraceuticals from olive mill waste (Sheng, Wang and USDA, 2012-15)
  • Best practices for olive oil milling; mobile-friendly format (Flynn, 2012-14)
  • Literature review of enriching olive oil in bioactive compounds and extracting polyphenols from byproducts (Frankel, 2013)
  • Examining method for preventing acrylamide formation in table olives (Wang, 2013-14)
  • Developing novel enzymes for debittering table olives (Wang, Siegel and Avena, 2014 - 17)
  • Examining olive pomace nutritional qualities for animal feed (DePeters and Wang, pending funding decision)
  • Examining impact of filtration on olive oil stability and sensory quality (Sheng and Wang, 2013-14)
  • Sicilian olive starter cultures (Boundy-Mills, Marco, 2015 proposed)
  • Methods for preventing acrylamide in table olives (Wang, Avena, 2015)

  • Reviewing literature and writing a report on olive oil filtration (Wang, 2015)

  • Analyzing glass packaging on olive oil quality (Wang, 2015-16)

  • Analyzing DNA markers on olive oil quality (Wang, 2015-16)

  • Developing table olive chemical markers for sensory defects. (Guinard, Shoemaker and Takeoka, 2011- 13)
  • Improving CA olive oil grade standards through state legislation. (Flynn, 2008, 2011)
  • Assessing multiple chemical instruments in effectiveness in evaluating olive oil aging (Wang, 2012-13)
  • A rapid method for assessing concentrations of sterols, erythrodiol and uvaol in olive oil (Mathison and Holstege, 2013)
  • Assessing olive oil quality using NIR (Wang, 2012-13)
  • Assessing olive oil quality using FTIR (Wang, 2012-13)
  • Examining natural chemistry of US olive oil (Wang and Flynn, 2012-13)
  • Characterization of diacylglycerol isomers in edible oils using gas chromatography–ion trap electron ionization mass spectrometry (Zhu, Wang, 2013)
  • The relationship between DAGs, oxidation and sensory (Zhu, Wang, 2012-14)
  • Characterization of diacylglycerol isomers in edible oils using gas chromatography–ion trap mass spectrometry (Zhu, Wang, 2013)
  • Ultra-High performance liquid chromatography analysis of volatile carbonyl compounds in virgin olive oils (Zhu, Wang, 2013)
  • Examining chemical markers of sensory defects (Zhu and Wang, 2013-14)
  • Developing reference samples for sensory defects in olive oil (Wang and Langstaff, 2013-15)
  • Review of current chemical methods and future directions (Wang and Gonzalez, 2013-14)
  • Detection of olive oil adulteration using cross-active receptor arrays (Wang and Anslyn, pending funding decision)
  • Developing a faster method for PPP analysis (Li and Wang, 2014)
  • EU Food Authenticity project (Flynn and Wang, 2014- 15)
  • Developing a simple, rapid method for identifying ethanol in table olives (Wang and Takeoka, 2014)
  • Exploring the relationship between olive oil sensory and chemistry standards (Wang, Flynn and Li, 2014)
  • Developing a rapid biosensor of olive oil rancidity (Wang, Siegel, Facciotti, Tagkopoulos and iGEM 2014)
  • Predicting oil quality with ANN computational evaluation of olives (Wang and Torrecilla, 2014)
  • Assessing the use of Phosphorus NMR for olive oil (Wang, 2014 – 15)

  • Optimizing oleocanthal extraction (Wang, 2015-16)

  • Developing a more rapid method for stigmastadiene (Wang and Holstege, 2015-16)

  • Economic analysis of new CA olive oil grade standards (Lybbert, 2009)
  • SHD grower survey (Sturzenberger and Flynn, 2010)
  • Consumer survey on California black-ripe olives (Guinard, 2009)
  • Consumer survey on extra virgin olive oil (Guinard, 2010)
  • SHD cost and return analysis (Klonsky, 2010 and 2012)
  • Economic analysis of competition issues (Sumner, 2011 – 14)
  • Consumer olive oil survey (Wang and Flynn, 2012-13)
  • Olive oil policies and poverty alleviation in Middle East and North Africa (Lybbert, 2013)
  • Consumer knowledge and attitudes toward olive oil (Santosa, Sturzenberger, Clow, Guinard, 2013)
  • Evaluating impact of olive oil consumption on health markers (Wang, Newman, Magiatis and Melliou 2013 - 15)
  • Reviewing literature and writing a report on olive oil and health (Wang, Mueller and Mary Flynn, 2014 – 15)
  • Developing rapid biosensor for health indicators (Wang, Siegel, Facciotti, Tagkopoulos (pending funding, 2015)
  • Reviewing literature and writing a report on olive oil relationship to blood pressure (Wang and Mary Flynn, 2015)
  • The top health benefits of olive oil consumption (Wang, 2015-16)
  • Evaluating oleocanthal on blood platelet aggregation (Holt, Newman, Wang, 2015 proposed)

In this section

The UC Davis Olive Center has pursued a comprehensive research program that taps into the expertise of dozens of faculty members, extension research specialists and farm advisors.