Olive oil

Written by Zeferino Siani. Posted in Lesson 10

Olive oil is the most important fatty substance and the most used (in Italian) in human food.

Olive oil is extracted from olives, the olives.
The olive tree is a plant found throughout most of the Mediterranean.

Inside the drupe, immediately after the peel, we have the pulp that contains most of the oil (14-15%), and a wooden kernel with a seed, which still contains a little 'oil (3-3 , 5%).

oil extraction

From olives loaded into the crusher will have three fractions: the oil, the vegetable water and pomace, in a 20:50:30 ratio.

In modern installations machining is performed with a continuous integral cycle, which consists in the following phases: washing, milling, mixing, separation of the oil from the paste and the vegetable water for pressure or centrifugation, seasoning and packaging; by reference to the flowsheet, we have: 1. 1. washing with water, to clean the dirt and other impurities olives (otherwise you have bad odors in the oil, such as earth, mold, etc.). 2. 2. grinding with hammer mills, and you get so a paste, which then extract the oily must 3. 3. kneading consists in a mixing of the dough, during which the oil droplets gather into larger droplets, separating more easily from the vegetation water 4. 4. centrifugation ( or pressure in older plants or smaller or craft; best oil, other things being equal conditions). At this stage, if for pressure (see diagram), there is a separation of the residue (the solid part of the kernels) from the oily must (oil + vegetation water), and then the separation of the oil from the vegetation water. In modern installations, for centrifugation, there is a separation of the three phases (oil, vegetation waters, and residue) in a single cycle.

Read on Olive Oil

Laws on oils mainly concern: AA description, definition and characteristics of olive oils (EC Regulations no. 2568 / 91e n. 1513/2001) BB Trade rules of olive oils, with particular regard to indications of origin of the oils virgin and extra virgin olive oil, and their labels (Law no. 169/92, Regulations no. 2815/98, and Law no. 204/2004) CC sanctions (Legislative Decree. n. 426/99, and Presidential Decree no. 458 / 99)

A. With regard to the first group, already Regulation No. 2568/91 / EC, the year 1991 governed in a fairly broad and general definitions, characteristics and methods of determination of the olive oils. In the Annex to Regulation No latest. 1513/2001, the definitions and acidity values of the various types of oil are reported.

According to the EU, the places edible oils on the market are: 1. 1. olive oils "virgin", defined by law as follows: "We define virgin olive oils oils obtained from the fruit of the olive tree solely by mechanical or other physical means under conditions that do not cause deterioration of the oil, and which have not undergone any treatment other than washing, decantation, centrifugation and filtration, to the exclusion of oils obtained by solvent or to chemical action adjuvants or biochemical or re-esterification processes , and any mixture with oils of other kinds. "
As you can see, the case of a precise definition, but very long and difficult to understand for those who have no specific competence.

A more simple definition is as follows: of superior quality olive oil obtained directly from olives and solely by mechanical processes. By law, it is forbidden to add seed oils or oils extracted with solvents (pomace oils).

Classification of olive oils according to the acidity

They can be divided into: 1.1. 1.1. olive oil extra virgin olive oil, absolutely perfect flavor, with less than 0.8 g acidity. of oleic acid per 100 grams. of oil (the natural acidity + that caused by the machining it is due to the release, in small quantities, of acids saturated and unsaturated fats, and it is precisely said free acidity, however, conventionally, it is expressed as if it were only due to acid oleic). 1.2. 1.2. virgin olive oil, perfect taste, with acidity not greater than 2 gr. of oleic acid per 100 grams. of oil, obtained from a blend of refined olive oil cut (not edible alone, see later) and virgin olive oils, other than lampante, whose acidity expressed in acid oil: oil oil 2. 2. Oil oleic acid may not exceed 1.0 grams gr./100. 3. 3. oil of olive pomace oil: oil obtained from a pomace oil d 'refined olive (not edible alone, see later) and virgin olive oils, lampante different, however, with acidity not more than 1,0 gr. ac. oleic / 100 gr. of olive-pomace oil (edible). They then 4 other types of non-edible oil: two are processing intermediates, namely are precisame

CONTROLLO

Fraud and sanctions

As for the third group C, Legislative Decree 19 October 1999, n. 426, (Legislative Decree 426/99), "Sanctions under Regulation (EC) no. 2815/98 concerning marketing standards for olive oil", and also according to the Presidential Decree n. 458/99, it is said that: "Unless the act constitutes a crime, those who use the designation of origin, laid down in Regulation (EC) No. 2815/98, without having obtained the necessary recognition, and 'punished with an administrative fine of one million lire per quintal or fraction of ton of product manufactured and marketed. " The extra virgin olive oil and olive oil put on the market must state on the label or the alphanumeric identification extremes of conditioning firm that obtained the required approval by the competent. The non-compliant are subject to an administrative fine. In the case of air conditioning and marketing of extra virgin olive oil cutting oil or virgin olive oil from more than 75% by a Member State or the Community ', sanctions are provided for those who use the prevailing origin labeling no show on the label or directly on the package marked "selection of olive oils (extra) virgin which a higher percentage (75%) comes from ... (designation of origin). In addition, unless the fact constitutes a crime, who prepares and leads to consumption Extra virgin olive oil or virgin olive oil without indicating package or on the alphanumeric identification of the approved packaging extreme and 'punished with fine of between one hundred thousand six hundred thousand lire in lire. Finally, with regard to recognized companies that violate the control obligations (art. 4 of Regulation (EC) no. 2815/98), applies the suspension of recognition for a period from one month to six months. In case of relapse and 'arranged the withdrawal of riconoscimento.Gli olive oils and seed oils they must be sold in hermetically sealed containers, in liters capacity of 0,10 - 0.25 - 0,50 - 0,75 - 1.00 - 2.00 to 3.00 - 5.00 - 10,00.Per timely news should also be noted that the extra virgin olive oil on the market can have a stamp CSQA, the certification body for the agri-food quality and the brand of Master mills, the professional association of the industry.

The oil should be stored in a cool, dry and little illuminato.Il color is a sign of quality but matter most the smell and flavor. After the olfactory examination, follows the taste test, which must be done on a small amount.

Olive oil, like other vegetable products, deteriorates with the passage of time; This means that even before the minimum durability indicated on the packaging (known as maturity) the oil loses in part some of the features that distinguish the young product.

The main defects, recognizable both taste and smell, are derived from oils derived from olives or unhealthy oils from very old (over two years) or poorly preserved.

The altered olive oil may have at times of rancid flavor due to the excessive aging or prolonged exposure to light, heat and air; other times may know of mold or heating because the oil comes from olives that are fermented.

The quality

The quality depends on several factors: the growing of olives, production of virgin oils, and cutting of the oil on the market. Finally, we note that the same "definition of quality" of olive oil can be further distinguished in basic quality "(minimum requirement to ensure, for example, these are the limits of the different elements involved in the composition of the oil oil, or maximum levels of undesirable substances), in "intrinsic quality" refers to the sensory and nutritional quality of olive oil, as the acidity and the panel test *, and "associated quality" to the product, e.g. the image associated with a certain brand of olive oil, according to culinary traditions, climate and the Mediterranean landscape (the "Made in Italy"). With the Panel Test term indicates the dates of voting by a group of 8- 12 trained tasters according to the COI method (These, independently of each other, express their opinion on the oil organoleptic (pleasant sensations: fruity, balanced, fruity, fr Green uttato, ripe fruit, fruity tired or off; more or less pleasant: apple, fresh, herb, leaf, bitter, sour, spicy; unpleasant: earth, dry, musty, or sour Winey, heating, metal, fiscolo, cooked, vegetable water, rancid, sludge, putrid.