Poster session I wanted to go to

I was particulary interested in this because the techniques applied to determine the compostition and chemical propertiess of the olive oil are much more familiar to me than the other experiments, because I have studied then in depth at Emory University. Gas Chromatography and NMR spectroscopy are techniques that we have covered in the organic chemistry classes and labs and in other several classes also. Olive Oils is very much more nutritional than what people would think Olive oil is not only useful to cook and tasty but also healthy, differing from the regular oil coming from animal meat, because of its high concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants which make it a much better pick than regular oil, more specifically oleic acid. Olive Oil offers protection against heart disease by equilibrating cholesterol level and avoid its accumulation inside the cell.

The level of cholesterol in the body is determine by the kind of fatt acids that you include in your diet. Saturated acids are bad for the body because they promote the formation of LDL (Low density liporproteins which are harmful because it sticks to the walls f the arteries and avoids the blood fluid ). polyunsaturated acids lowers the formation of LDL but also of HDL (High density lipoproteins) which in moderate amounts is good for the body. Monounsaturated acids are the desirable ones, because it lowers the concetration of LDL (bad cholesterol) without affecting HDL (good cholesterol). Olive oil is also good for its antioxidants content which prevents the formation of free radicals which because of its high reactivity could affect the main components of the organelles and important molecules within the cell in general. Different grades of olive oil exist, the grades are related to the amount of oleic acid the oil posseses and is directly related to the taste of the oil, the higher the grade the better the taste. The EVOO (Extra virgin olive oil) is the higher cathegory. ROO (Refined olive oil) belongs to the lower cathergories. A lot of smart sellers may try to trick their buyers selling then olive oil that is not 100% extra virgin, but there is where the techniques we studied in organic lab become very useful for a daily matter. By techniques such as GC and NMR we could determine the degree of each oil in a sample just by observing at the peaks in the NMR or at the distance covered in CG. The acidity of the oil between extreme grades may be very obvious and could be easily determined just by the taste, but if the acidities are close and you tongue fails then chemistry comes to play.