Maria de la Paz Aguilera Herrera

Maria de la Paz Aguilera Herrera holds a B.Sc in Biology from the University of Granada and a PhD in Chemical Sciences from the University of Jaén. She has more than 20 years experience in the production of olive oil and was for many years panel leader and head of the innovative “Experimental Cooking with Olive Oil” programme at the Center for Olive and Olive Oil Technologies (Citoliva), in Jaén. In 2019 she joined the Superior Facultative Body of the Junta de Andalucía as a specialist technician in the food and health derpartment of IFAPA (Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training of the Ministry of Agriculture). Her main lines of research have focused on the differentiated quality of EVOOs and improving the lipid profile after its incorporation into the food chain.

Over the past 15 years she has participated as a judge in numerous national and international competitions and has been part of the Evooleum and Iberoleum guide books since their first editions. She has published more than 30 articles in international journals as well as several research papers in important scientific publications. She is co-author of several specialized books including “Manual of Olive Oil Tasting and Pairing” and “Olive Cultivation”, currently in its 6th edition.