From Democritus to Ancel Keys many studies have pointed out the significant nutritive value of olive oil, to such an extent that during this last century the cultivation of olives has spread to countries far from the Mediterranean: USA, Australia, South America... Like many agricultural food products, olive oil has the merit of maintaining the characteristics of the original raw material: olives. Therefore we can assert that it is impossible to produce good oil from poor-quality raw material; that is why it is necessary to select the fruit carefully and to process it according to very strict rules.

Let us Safeguard the Integrity of Olive Oil!

Cultivars, proper ripeness, harvesting methods, the interval between harvesting and processing, storage, crushing, clarification, packaging, are all factors influencing the quality of the oil we sell to our customers.
It is not easy to make a premium quality olive oil, be it extra virgin or not, without experience and a thorough knowledge of state of the art processing techniques. Oxygen, light and heat can rapidly deteriorate olive oil, that is why everyone, from the producer to the final consumer, must do their best to protect the oil from these negative influences.

We must not forget that owing to the greater value of olive oil compared with oils from other raw materials, it is more than ever important to protect it from adulterators and other frauds who seek easy profits at the expense of uninformed consumers. To safeguard the superiority of olive oil the European Community has promulgated Regulation 2568/91 and succeeding modifications that establish a classification of olive oils based on strict parameters. The primary objective of the Regulation is to eliminate the possibility of confusing olive oil with mixtures of pomace and seed oils (sunflower, corn, soybean, peanut, rapeseed, safflower, grapestone) purporting to be the genuine product.

Two different analyses are used to determine whether olive oil is genuine or not: one is the chemical-physical laboratory test to ascertain its actual composition of glycerides, fatty acids, sterols and polyphenols; the other is a sensory analysis carried out by experts who evaluate its appearance, bouquet and taste to identify merits and defects.

Click on any of the four icons below for more in-depth information about some fundamental aspects of olive oil, its most important chemical-physical properties, the product classifications established by law. You can also observe a sensorial test of olive oil and the preparation of an exceptional fried dish, using olive oil, of course.