What is extra virgin olive oil?
Extra virgin, virgin or refined: these are the differences
Extra virgin olive oil, virgin or refined: olive oil comes in different varieties. Which one you take is best left to what you want to use it for. Do you want to flavor your tomato mozzarella with it, use it to remove makeup or fill an oil lamp with it: it goes without saying you don’t need the best olive oil for every use. Find out how to choose the best olive oil here.
To ensure greater clarity for consumers and prevent confusion and fraud, the International Olive Council (IOC) has set standards for olive oil. That IOC is an intergovernmental organization of states that produce olives or olive oil. Together, IOC member countries represent more than 98 percent of global olive production. Just to say, in the world of olives, the IOC is a major player. The IOC, in a United Nations charter, established the criteria by which we can classify the different types of olive oil. These criteria are used by the vast majority of countries, and they are also the same criteria that we use in this article to point out the differences.
Extra virgin olive oil: the cream of the crop
Quality is usually rare, and olive oil is no different. In most olive oil producing countries, extra virgin olive oil accounts for only ten percent of total production. Those who choose extra virgin olive oil, also abbreviated as EVOO, are therefore getting a top product.
Extra virgin olive oil is produced mechanically. This means that no chemicals or high temperatures are used in production, which could alter the composition. The only treatment these olives undergo is washing, decanting, centrifuging and filtering.
An important parameter is acidity. The percentage of free fatty acids must not exceed 0.8 percent to be considered an extra virgin olive oil. But even here, large differences are still possible. For example, lab tests showed that Casa Astrid’s olive oil had an acidity level of only 0.1 percent at the 2020 harvest.
Those chemical properties such as acidity are a good indication of how the olive farmer worked, such as: how much care was taken with the trees, harvesting and transportation, how the oil was pressed and packaged.
The organoleptic properties (taste and smell) of extra virgin olive oil can vary greatly. One extra virgin olive oil may taste delicate and mild, while another may taste sharp and bitter. By the way, a bitter taste is an indication of the high presence of antioxidants. The more antioxidants, the more bitter the taste of your olive oil.
This high presence of antioxidants is also the reason why extra virgin olive oil is so healthy. Antioxidants protect our cells from free radical damage, which in turn play a role in the development of diseases such as some cancers. Polyphenols, a certain type of antioxidants, are also thought to protect against cardiovascular disease, arteriosclerosis, stroke, and damage to the brain.
If you really have a taste for it, you can start pairing olive oil with certain dishes. Exactly as wine lovers do with a meal. These are the main flavor types in extra virgin olive oil:
- Delicate olive oil (mild, light, elegant, slightly fruity, buttery taste): with dishes that call for subtle flavors such as fish, eggs, young salad, desserts, mayonnaise
- Medium olive oil (intensely fruity, pleasantly bitter, an aftertaste of pepper): ideal with salads, grilled chicken, white meat, fresh pasta, bread, vinaigrette
- Robust, intense olive oil (tangy and sharp, intense): with spicy dishes, aged cheeses, grilled meats, soups, pasta sauces, stews
What should such a quality product actually cost? If you know that at Casa Astrid one tree in good conditions produces two liters of olive oil, or that you need 4,800 olives for half a liter, it is obvious that extra virgin olive oil is not cheap. If you see a bottle somewhere where the price is surprisingly low, keep in mind that it may not be a true extra virgin olive oil.
Virgin olive oil: higher acidity
Like extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil is made up of pure olive juice, derived from the fruit of an olive tree (Olea europaea). It is produced purely mechanically, only from olives as the base product and has not been heated at high temperature in the process. The big difference with extra virgin is in the acidity. To speak of virgin olive oil, maximum 2 percent free fatty acids are allowed.
By the way, there is also virgin olive oil that is not suitable to eat without processing. We call them lampante olive oil. It is made from inferior oil and has an acidity level above 3.3 percent. Usually this oil is refined to take out the bad taste or smell, and the high acidity. Or it is used for technical applications rather than for food.
Refined olive oil: inferior commodity
If we filter a poor quality virgin oil with charcoal, or other chemical and physical filters, we get refined olive oil. This happens when the base product tastes bad and has high acidity. Refining removes these negative properties. Unfortunately, so are the healthy properties of olive oil, such as its antioxidants. Due to the refining process, this olive oil usually has no taste, color or smell. More than half of the Mediterranean olive oil is unfortunately too low in quality and therefore needs to be refined.
In a number of countries, refined oil is considered unsuitable for consumption because of its taste, although it is perfectly safe.
Not to mention, although refined olive oil comes from an inferior commodity, the acidity is very low with a maximum of 0.3 percent. This is because the free fatty acids have been filtered out during refining.
Often refined olive oil is also mixed with other oils. If you see “olive oil” somewhere on a label, without more, it indicates a blend of refined olive oil and virgin olive oil. Here the acidity may not exceed 1 percent.
Do you want only the best when it comes to food? Then order a bottle of extra virgin olive oil with an acidity level of only 0.1 percent.
