{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T14:19:04Z","timestamp":1788963544619,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":90,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788912000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Public Investment Program of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04zvb9t44","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Phytosterols are key minor constituents of olive oil, contributing not only to its nutritional and bioactive properties but also to authenticity assessment, quality control, and regulatory classification. In Greek olive oils, particularly extra virgin olive oils from the dominant Koroneiki cultivar, sterolic composition is a critical yet complex marker, as total-sterol content and specific sterol fractions may naturally approach regulatory thresholds without indicating adulteration or quality loss. This review critically synthesizes current knowledge on phytosterol profiling in Greek olive oil, emphasizing sterolic composition, analytical methodology, stability, and the principal biological, geographical, technological, and methodological factors governing sterolic variability. Particular attention is given to the sterolic fingerprint of the Greek cultivars for which comparable data exist\u2014principally Koroneiki, with Mastoides and Lianolia Kerkyras as comparators\u2014dominated by \u03b2-sitosterol, \u03945-avenasterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, and \u03947-sterols, and to cultivar-dependent variation that may influence regulatory interpretation. The review further evaluates the official GC-FID analytical methodology, the complementary role of GC-MS and chemometric approaches, and the limitations of interpreting sterolic composition solely through fixed regulatory thresholds. It proposes a context-dependent framework for interpreting phytosterol composition in authentic Greek olive oils and introduces the concept of the Near-Threshold Sterolic Space, describing the natural clustering of authentic oils close to regulatory decision limits as a consequence of cultivar- and terroir-driven biological variability. Overall, phytosterol interpretation should evolve from a purely threshold-based regulatory exercise toward a biologically informed, method-aware and cultivar-sensitive framework that better reflects the natural complexity of authentic Koroneiki, and the other Greek cultivars examined here.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules31183170","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T14:02:48Z","timestamp":1788962568000},"page":"3170","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Beyond Phytosterol Profiling in Greek Olive Oil: Biological Variability, Regulatory Interpretation and the Near-Threshold Sterolic Space"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"31","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-7588-9872","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ioanna","family":"Dialyna","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Analysis and Optimization of Olive Oil Quality Group, Laboratory of Biotechnological Applications and Plant Protection (LBAP), Department of Agriculture, School of Agricultural Sciences, Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU), Estavromenos, GR71410 Heraklion, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7536-101X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emmanouil","family":"Trantas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Analysis and Optimization of Olive Oil Quality Group, Laboratory of Biotechnological Applications and Plant Protection (LBAP), Department of Agriculture, School of Agricultural Sciences, Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU), Estavromenos, GR71410 Heraklion, Greece"},{"name":"Institute of Agri-Food and Life Sciences, University Research and Innovation Center (URIC), Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU), Estavromenos, GR71410 Heraklion, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3104-6103","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Filippos","family":"Ververidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Analysis and Optimization of Olive Oil Quality Group, Laboratory of Biotechnological Applications and Plant Protection (LBAP), Department of Agriculture, School of Agricultural Sciences, Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU), Estavromenos, GR71410 Heraklion, Greece"},{"name":"Institute of Agri-Food and Life Sciences, University Research and Innovation Center (URIC), Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU), Estavromenos, GR71410 Heraklion, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Correia, M., Gomes, A.T.P.C., Moreira, I., El Maghariki, J., Mendes, K., Correia, M.J., Barros, R., Barbosa, J.C., Rosa, N., and Gomes, A.M. 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