Serving as the sensory analysis panel leader of the Ayvalık Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Suzan Kantarcı Savaş, 32, spoke to Anadolu Agency (AA). After graduating from Dokuz Eylül University's Department of Statistics, she conducted a research titled "Olive Oil Tasting Research" and started her Master's degree. This is how she began to serve in the sector.

Stressing that she started to do a sensory analysis of olive oil at an early age, Savaş said in addition to olive oil testing she still works as an academician at the Department of Econometrics at Kırklareli University.

Savaş noted that for a healthy tasting, one has to have high levels of emotional perceptions and added, "I was introduced to Ümmühan Tibet, the head of the International Council for Olive and Olive Oil [UZZK] in 2008 and I started to learn tasting olive oil thoroughly since 2009. Then, I went to Spain with the support of a scholarship by UZZK in 2011. Thanks to my experience there, I became a bit more professional in the area. Now, I support UZKK by tasting olive oil."

A short travel to the history of olive oil

Explaining that she became the tasting panel leader of the Ayvalık Chamber of Commerce when she was in Turkey, Savaş said, "Here, we have a 10 person panel group. The aim of tasting olive oil is to decide on its quality. We detect the quality of the olive oil by smelling, tasting and analyzing the oil with our senses. This method works for both olive and olive oil producers, exporters, importers and the consumer. By tasting it, we make a short travel to the history of olive oil. We can decide on the type, source and processing of the olive oil during the analysis."

Savaş said producers, especially the ones who are trying to produce more and more qualified olive oil, appreciation of all kinds of positive and negative evaluations they made and noted that they are, in a way, shaping the quality of the oil.

Noting that caring for the olive fields, the effect of the harvest type on the product and the methods of transportation, storage and processing directly affect the quality, Savaş said, "When the product is left to wait for a while, its defects become more apparent. Hence, the detection of defects becomes easier in cases of turning red due to molding and the waiting process becomes easier. We want the producers in such cases."

Tasting local and foreign olive oils

Savaş is one of the 10 jury members of the New York International Olive Oil Contest, which is the most conceptual and prestigious olive oil contest in the world. Along with other jury members from various countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece, Savaş has been choosing the best olive oil among hundreds of oils for four years.

Savaş said, "At last year's contest, we tried to decide on the most qualified olive oils among 800 samples. At the Sensory Analysis Laboratory of the Ayvalık Chamber of Commerce, we tasted local and foreign olive oils. Every year, we taste 20 foreign oils. Foreign guests from Italy and Spain also bring us oils. We also conduct the sensory analysis of oils extracted from olives grown in various spots in Anatolia."

One of the tasting panel group trainees of the Ayvalık Chamber of Commerce, Tuğçe Şensal Arslan also said they decide on the quality of the olive oils and give producers advice on how to improve their production methods.

"We conduct a sensory analysis under the leadership of Savaş and it takes quite a long time. If you don't allocate time for sensory analysis or don't know how to do it, you cannot say anything on the source and processing method of the oil," she said.