1. Olive oil from the 79 A.D. Vesuvius eruption stored at the Naples National Archaeological Museum (Italy)
- Author
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Gaetano Di Pasquale, Paola Ricci, Genoveffa Nuzzo, Francesco Addeo, Antonello Paduano, Alessandro Genovese, Alessia D’Auria, Francesco Siano, Raffaele Sacchi, Simonetta Caira, Andrea Motta, Adele Cutignano, Carmine Lubritto, Gianluca Picariello, Sacchi, R., Cutignano, A., Picariello, G., Paduano, A., Genovese, A., Siano, F., Nuzzo, G., Caira, S., Lubritto, C., Ricci, P., D'Auria, A., Di Pasquale, G., Motta, A., and Addeo, F.
- Subjects
Pompei ,lcsh:TX341-641 ,ancient olive oil ,01 natural sciences ,Article ,law.invention ,03 medical and health sciences ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,law ,Radiocarbon dating ,Fatty acids ,030304 developmental biology ,0303 health sciences ,lcsh:TP368-456 ,Vesuvius eruption ,Mass spectrometry ,010401 analytical chemistry ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Archaeology ,Mass spectrometric ,NMR ,humanities ,0104 chemical sciences ,lcsh:Food processing and manufacture ,Oleic acid ,chemistry ,estolides ,MANN museum ,lcsh:Nutrition. Foods and food supply ,Geology ,Food Science ,Olive oil - Abstract
Using a range of chromatographic, spectroscopic, and mass spectrometric analytical techniques, we characterized one of the “edible items” found at the Vesuvius archeological sites and guarded at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN) in Naples, Italy. We authenticated the specimen contained in a glass bottle (Mann-S1 sample) as originally olive oil and mapped the deep evolution throughout its 2000 years of storage. Triacylglycerols were completely hydrolyzed, while the resulting (hydroxy) fatty acids had partly condensed into rarely found estolides. A complex pattern of volatile compounds arose mainly from breakdown of oleic acid. With excellent approximation, radiocarbon dating placed the find at the time of the Plinian Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 A.D., indicating that Mann-S1 is probably the oldest residue of olive oil in the world found in bulk amount (nearly 0.7 L).
- Published
- 2020
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