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The olive oil
The pressing
The classical gaining in the press allows to
separate the paste into its three components: the oil,
the pomace (sansa) and the watery part,
which is called vegetation water. The olive pomace
consists of the stones and the peels, that is the dried
olives ' paste remaining after the pressing.The paste is
squeezed in hydraulic presses, then it follows the
centrifugation and the settling.A layer of paste about
three centimeters thick is spread on filtering disks
pierced in the centre called fiscoli , which are piled up
around a steel cylinder on a trolley. A steel disk is
layed every three fiscoli, until a "tower" of
twenty terns is formed.
The trolley with the "tower" is then pushed in
the press where by a pressure of 180-400 Atm. we
obtain a mixture of water and oil which flows in basins
underneath.
There are also other methods of gaining the oil:
half-authomatically, continuously through centrifugation,
through percolation, etc.
Separation and clarification
The oil that we have obtained has still to be
cleared from the residual olives' particles and separated
from the vegetation water. This is done through
centrifugation, settling and decanting.
Bottling
Before being
bottled the oil is gently filtered. This permits to obtain
a clear product and to protract the shelflife of our
Extravirgin Olive Oil, that can easily reach 18 months as
labelled.Olive oil is conveniently preserved in dark glass
bottles away from light and heat.
Denomination and
definitions of olive and olive pomace oils as
set by law
The acidity, to which the rules refer,
indicates the oil content of oleic acid, that is typical
of olive oil.
The acidity rate of an oil expresses the care with
which olives are chosen, picked up and processed.
- Extravirgin Olive Oil
:
Virgin Olive Oil with a perfect taste, whose acidity
rate cannot exceed 1% (1gr oleic acid in 100gr);
- Virgin Olive Oil
:
Virgin Olive Oil with a faultless taste, whose acidity
rate cannot exceed 2%;
- Olive Oil
:
Olive Oil which is obtained from refined Olive Oil with
Virgin Olive Oils. Its acidity rate cannot exceed 1.5%;
- Olive Pomace Oil
:
Oil obtained from refined Olive Pomace Oil with Virgin
Oils. Its acidity rate cannot exceed 1.5%
Olive oil in the diet
One gram of olive oil supplies about 9 calories
(one tablespoon about 115), just like all other vegetable
oils.The oleic acid -a monounsaturated fat- is typical of
olive oil and it owns the merit of beneficially
controlling the cholesterol rate in blood. The
other fatty acids that olive oil contains -among them the
polyunsaturated ones also defined "essential"-
are present in optimum ratio.
The relations among olive oils various fats are similar to
those of maternal milk.
Olive oil prevents illnesses such as arteriosclerosis and
the myocardium infarct.
Nutritionists' researches show that olive oil is highly
digestible, that it activates the liver's functions,
that it favours the bilious flow thus regularizing the
intestinal function and it helps absorbing the liposoluble
vitamins A,D,E,K.
Thanks to its "medicamental" and healthy
properties, olive oil is playing a more and more important
part nourishing new Peoples who have not been usual
consumers of it.
It is excellent "row" in sauces and
salads, it is indispensable for the Italian cooking, as it
helps combine the various ingredients' flavours of the Mediterranean
Diet.Olive oil stands high temperatures, and so
it is most suitable for frying.
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