From fruit to oil

Von der Frucht zum ÖL

An olive tree is intensively cultivated about 5 to 10 years until to bear the first fruit. Per tree to obtain an average of approximately 20 kg of olives. Depending on harvest time, this gives 3-5 liters of oil. The earlier the olives are harvested, the less is the yield of high-quality oil. The amount of oil increases with the continued ripening status, but suffers the more the quality. Fallen, over ripe olives are not suitable for an oil of the grade "extra virgin”. Therefore, at Villa Oliveto all olives are hand-picked. An experienced picker reaps it in an hour max. 10 kg of olives.

For a liter of olive oil it needs 4 to 6 kg of olives. These are sorted out after picking, because the oil from Villa Oliveto is exclusively of intact and healthy olives. After washing, they are still on the same day crushed and pressed. Then the oil is stored and bottled.

This oil is absolutely the first grade "extra virgin” and has the largest therapeutic effect with a special, high-quality taste of the Aegean coast.

Like a good bottle of wine also a good bottle of olive oil has its price.

Harvesting: Depending on the variety olives contain between 16% and 20% oil. Mainly, the oil is in the flesh and a small proportion of the stone. The olives for oil are harvested before full ripeness. The ripe olives provide a lot more oil, but the quality is not high, since the proportion of unwanted free fatty acids is higher. "The oil shall ripen in the jug not on the tree!"

Some producers have over ripe olives and fruits aware in the sun or in hot water so that they can increase oil production. However, the quality of these oils is particularly affected. Such tricks are unfortunately neither to prove nor to control. For the honest producers of good olive oil such machinations bordering on fraud.

Depending on the region, the olives are harvested between the end of October and in early February. The method of picking has considerable influence on the oil quality. Therefore, the olives for the oil of the class extra virgin are still harvested by hand. The fruits are striped of the branches with a small plastic rake or they are beaten with long sticks from the trees. The big oil producers often use tractors driven vibrators with which the whole olive tree trunk is vigorously shaked and the fruits are collected in nets. It is controversial discussed in how far the tree is damaging by this. At least in this case the oil from this fruits are rather poor quality.
The olive mill: The motto is "from the tree directly to the mill." The greater the interval between harvesting and pressing of the fruit is, the higher the proportion to undesirable free fatty acids climbs. The high proportion of fatty acids affect not only the quality but also the taste. The olives should ideally be only a few hours after harvest pressed, preferably within three days. At Villa Oliveto, the picked fruits are processed on the same day into oil. So we can guarantee a very high quality oil with high content of antioxidants.
The pressing of the olives: The olives are first sorted. The leaves and bad fruits are sorted out. Some producers leave a few leaves. In this way the oil gets a nice green color and a slight bitter taste.

First, the olives are washed, then they are processed to purée, the mash, in either traditional mills, with large stones from granite or in larger mills with modern machines (hammer and knife). The mash then is spread on mats and squeezed under pressure.
Further processing: In the centrifuge, the oil is separated from the remaining liquid. Then the "young" olive oil is stored for some time, so that the sludge can be set. The oil is regularly will transferred and the sediment, called oil sludge, removed. Later it is directly bottled or filtered depending on the quality.

Olive oil connoisseurs prefer unfiltered olive oil.