Olive Oil Expert

•Olive Oil production cycle •Olive Oil quality •Faq

Olive Oil from the pressing to the table
Olive oil is a fat liquid extracted from the fruit of the olive tree, Olea Europaea. The growth of this plant, native of Minor Asia, spread 5,000 years ago to the Mediterranean basin from the plateau's of Iran, Syria and Palestine.
The olive had already been grown in Crete in 3000 b.c., in Egypt in the second century B.C. and in Palestine in the first century b.c.. The Etruscans from the IV century b.c. made large use of olive oil, appreciating its beneficial properties; as a sign of thankfulness and a good omen they offered it to their divinities.
Olive oil has always found a place between the sacred and the divine. Today it is a fundamental compound of the 'Mediterranean diet', while in the past it was exalted for its therapeutic properties.

Chemically it is a mixture of water, proteins and lipids; the latter consist mainly of oleic acid which confers a liquid consistency and optimal digestibility to the oil. Among the other compounds the liposoluble vitamins A, D, E and K. The organoleptic properties of olive oil, like wine, are taste, colour, smell and limpidity.
The aroma depends upon the presence of unsaturated aldehydes and esters of fat acids; the colour varies from yellow to green according to the quantity of carotenoids and pigments of chlorophyll. For the organoleptic qualities olive oil sommeliers use a peculiar terminology, acknowledged world-wide. Particularly prized is the extra-virgin olive oil of Tuscany and Umbria, especially the oil taken from olive trees grown in the interior hilly areas.
The processing is divided into pressing ( the pulp is torn and the core is crushed), gremolatura (with the production of solid husk and liquid must from the olive paste) and centrifugation (to separate oil from the must). The latter operation can be done cold to obtain more fruity and prized oil or with warm working in tepid water. Afterwards the oil is left to settle and to separate out the impurities; next the liquid is made limpid and filtered, and finally it is poured into glass bottles or tin-plated containers.

The extra-virgin olive oil is not subjected to further workings and contains less than 1% oleic acid; other kinds of olive oil can be rectified to modify the acidity, or can be decolourised or deodorised. In spite of the large production Tuscan olive oil is in great demand in both the domestic and foreign market.
The farms of our region have undertaken many entertaining initiatives to promote their olive oil, aware as they are of offering a high-quality product.