Olive Oil

Oil is the extract of a fruit or a seed that is obtained following crushing or other mechanical processes. Olive Oil, and Extra virgin olive oil (EVO) in particular, is the result of the processing of olives.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the first choice (or also called first pressing) of the oils produced from olives (about 10% of EVO from 100 kg of olives is obtained) which is obtained by cold pressing the olives, therefore not altering their chemical composition and nutrients.

An Extra Virgin Olive Oil is defined as cold pressed when:

• is obtained solely by mechanical processes (crushing, squeezing, ...)
• the chemical and physical analyzes meet a series of community parameters (e.g. acidity which must be less than 0.8%)
• the organoleptic examination results within the norm (the so-called Panel Test carried out by experts)
• the cold extraction of extra virgin olive oil takes place at a temperature below 27 °.

If an extra virgin olive oil has defects or does not fall within the parameters it cannot be classified as extra virgin oil but is degraded to virgin oil or lampante oil.

The fruitiness of the oil is that set of olfactory and gustatory sensations that recalls the scent and taste of the olive.

Olive Oil: Health and Wellness

Extra virgin olive oil is now considered a fundamental element for the treatment and prevention of various diseases.

According to several studies, conducted several times, different beneficial properties of extra virgin olive oil have been demonstrated due not only to the lipid portion, but above all to the antioxidant one: its polyphenols reduce the presence of LDL cholesterol or "bad cholesterol", avoiding deposition on the arterial walls.

Other beneficial and healthy effects are found in the decrease in blood pressure and the risk of myocardial infarction.

Olive oil can be used either natural (in salad sauces or instead of butter in pasta, for example) or cooked (for cooking meat or vegetables or for frying).

However, it is important not to use it at too high a temperature (over 210 ° C), beyond which it deteriorates, it resists heat better than other oils (around 180 ° C).

A 2017 study found that a temperature range of 140-150 ° C can be used for cooking without too much loss of the natural molecular composition of the oil.

Olive Oil: History and Tradition

There is no plant capable of representing all of Italy like the olive tree.

A centuries-old plant that we find in every region and that has always represented a point of reference for the peasant culture of our Peninsula.

The olive harvest has always been a party, in the country houses the farmers gathered to help others in the harvest and at the end they celebrated with lunches, songs and dances.

Olive oil has been known since ancient times: the ancient Greeks, Phoenicians, Arabs, Berbers and Romans already used it for their cuisine (originally Mediterranean cuisine) and for their cosmetic products, as well as the Jews to light the their candlestick.

The cultivation of the olive tree and the production of olive oil with mills dates back to the period of the invention of agriculture and the cultivation of vines and wine, about 8,000 years ago.

The first techniques of production and conservation of olive oil - strictly extra virgin - are the work of the Greeks and Romans: techniques that remained unchanged for centuries.

The same spread of the plant is mainly due to these two peoples who, during the expansions of their empires, exported the much loved plant.

In this way the olive tree arrived in many European countries, France and Spain in the lead.

In the regions with a more Mediterranean climate, the plant found fertile soil, so much so that it became an integral part of the landscape and typical production of the territory, up to the present day.

The olive harvest

During the ripening phase the olives tend to gradually increase their oil content, while at the same time reducing their water content.

The harvest season begins in mid-October even if each Region follows its own calendar, which changes according to the variety present on the plant (the collection of slow-ripening varieties ends only in mid-January).

The techniques used for the harvest are different: some producers harvest the olives by hand, others beat the branches, letting the fruits fall on cloths spread on the ground.

Once harvested, the olives must be sieved, washed, crushed and finally squeezed (preferably cold, so that the oil does not overheat, thus losing nutrients and changing flavor).

Obviously once the olives were harvested strictly by hand as there were no machines able to help man.

The olive harvest is done by hand using three techniques:

• the stripping
• the beating
• the hairstyle

The stripping is a method of harvesting by hand that has the great advantage of not damaging the olives and can also be very useful in the case of sick olives because it allows the selection of the fruit.

The beating instead consists in beating the branches of the olive trees with special poles until the olives fall on the nets. This technique, if not done correctly, risks damaging the olives.

Finally, combing consists in "combing" the plant through special rakes to drop the olives.

Once the olives were harvested they were taken to the mill which once, throughout Italy, remained full of people 24 hours a day.

In fact, the peasants stayed to wait their turn and see how their extra virgin olive oil was being pressed.

Olive Oil: cold pressing

The most used technique in ancient times to produce a quality extra virgin olive oil was certainly cold pressing, which is still recognized today as the technique for obtaining the best quality oil.

With the cold pressing the extra virgin olive oil is extracted through the crushing of the olives by large wheels (once made of granite).

In this way it is possible to maintain the organoleptic qualities and without deteriorating the olives with high temperatures.

Cold extraction means that the oil is produced through a mechanical process, at a temperature below 27 ° C.

The temperature is measured throughout the extraction process by means of probes, which ensure that it never rises above 27 ° C.

The cold pressing allows to keep the organoleptic characteristics of the extra virgin olive oil unaltered, preserving all the properties of the olives, the quantity of minerals, vitamins and antioxidant substances for the body.

The temperature of 27 ° C was established by a community law, making an average between the various temperatures at which the extraction process was carried out in the past.

A higher temperature increases, among other things, also the kneading times (the operation that follows the pressing done to break the emulsion between water and oil).

As the olives are processed at higher temperatures and for longer times, the oil loses its fruity scent in favor of sweet notes.