What is good olive oil?

In order to obtain a high quality and premium olive oil, it is necessary to go through certain stages from the selection of saplings to consumption. The meticulous realization of each of these stages also reveals the quality of Pallas olive oil. Considering the fact that the quality of the majority of olive oils produced in our country is far behind international standards, it is related to the fact that most of these steps are not fulfilled, we apply the following 11 steps to reach a certain quality level and to keep this level constant:

1- Olive tree

Some types of olives are oily, that is, they are more suitable for obtaining oil. Some are tableware. Certain types of olives yield less oil, some more. Some olive species have higher free fatty acid ratio under the same conditions, while some species yield oil with lower acidity and high phenol compounds under the same conditions. The aim here is to be an olive type with a high oil content, but at the same time low in free fatty acids and rich in phenol. In this respect, there are three accepted olive species in the world: Arbequina, Arbasona and Kroneki olives. Under similar conditions, the oil and quality of these three olive species come to the fore. However, the most preferred among these three species is Arbequina, because it has a very productive oil ratio compared to Arbequina, Arbasona and Kroneki. For this reason, producers plant Arbasona and Kroneki at a ratio of 1/10 among Arbequina saplings, mostly as a fertiliser or to obtain seasoning/blend olive oil. Tirilye, Ayvalık, Memecik, Edremit, etc., which are planted a lot for oil in our country. types are unfortunately not at Arbequina level in terms of oil quality.

2- Suitable climate, suitable soil

It has the climatic conditions favored by the olive tree to be planted; It is important to have an area where the productivity of the sapling will increase in terms of wind, sun, humidity, heat, soil and slope. Wet areas with a maximum altitude of 700 meters, moderately strong winds, mild slopes, mild climate, not far from the sea, and rich in organic and inorganic soils should be chosen for olives.

3- Maintenance

Soil and leaf analyzes should be done frequently in the care of olive saplings. It is very important to act according to the principles of good agriculture and organic agriculture in the cultivation of olives. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides that will create pesticide residues in olive fruit are one of the biggest reasons that reduce the quality of the oil. Good/necessary care in organic farming conditions is indispensable for olive oil quality and productivity.

4- Harvest time

When the olive fruit ripens as the first green, it has a low-fat content but a high polyphenol content in terms of antioxidant properties. The olive oil that is picked and pressed during this period has a high “bitterness-burning” ratio and a low acidity ratio. The oil obtained in this period, known as the earliest harvest, is a quality oil, but since the fruits are not sufficiently lubricated, low/low yield oil is obtained from high weights. Although the ratio of antioxidant phenol compounds is high in the obtained oil, the fruitiness is low, there is an intense amount of grass flavor and rawness in the oil.

The period of the olive fruit, which is called variegated, is the most suitable period for quality harvest. During this period of 1-2 weeks, some of the fruits are green, some are yellow-orange, some are pink-red, some are blue-purple, and some are dark purple-black. This is the period of true early harvest. And for quality oil, the oil to be collected and squeezed in the first 3-4 days of these two weeks is of Extra Premium quality. The next 1 week contains Premium oil quality. Oils squeezed out after this period enters into mature and late harvest. When the olive fruit enters its first mottled color period, picking the olives and squeezing the oil is important for high quality. This period offers both a high polyphenol compound ratio and is the period when the fruitiness of the oil increases. Early harvest is the name given to the harvest done in this period. Unfortunately, in our country, olive fruit is waited until it turns black so that it has a high oil content, and it is squeezed like that. The amount of oleic acid, which is a free fatty acid, increases a lot in blackened olives, so the oil quality decreases.

5- Harvest Method

The olive fruit is a very delicate fruit. When it is damaged or crushed before pressing, the acidity in the damaged area increases 5-6 times in a very short time. The biggest blow to the quality of olive oil is the picking made by hitting the olives with a pole. In addition, the process of collecting the olives in sacks, which leads to the crushing of the olives, considerably reduces the oil quality of the olives. For a quality olive oil, it is essential to collect it by hand and to collect the olives in shallow crates/saddles and transport them to the squeezing house.

6- Pressing time

For a quality olive oil, the olives that are plucked from the branch should be squeezed within a maximum of 8 hours. As soon as the olive is plucked from the branch, its acidity begins to increase and the oil quality it will yield decreases at the same rate. Therefore, olives that are collected under ideal conditions, on time, without damage and transferred to crates without damage should be pressed without delay so that the oil quality does not deteriorate. Although conscious producers in Spain and Greece pay great attention to this issue, we cannot say that the producers in our country act consciously enough.

7- Ideal pressing

Squeezing olive oil under ideal conditions is one of the most important criteria in terms of oil quality. It is very important that the machine assembly in which the oil is squeezed is clean from the malaxer to the separator, and that there are no residues from the previous pressing. Because an unclean squeezing and residues inside the machine assembly may deteriorate the entire quality of your oil. Therefore, it is essential to squeeze the olive in a safe, clean and hygienic environment. It is very important that the conditions are clean and hygienic, but it is not enough. It is important that the machine mechanism, in which the oil is squeezed, works with a modern and automation system. It is impossible to press for a quality oil with traditional methods and old pressing machines – although a marketing campaign based on a misconception continues. Finally, the ambient temperature should be maximum 26 degrees, and the temperature of the water coming to the machine assembly and especially the separator should be maximum 24 degrees for quality oil. As the environment in which the olive is pressed and the temperature in the water increase, phenol compounds, which are one of the main quality elements in the oil, will be separated from the oil and become free and mix with the water. In addition, although high heat provides more oil yield, it is a very basic element that increases the acidity and waxiness of the oil and impairs the quality of the oil.

8- Filtering

Oil that is not filtered very well will never maintain its quality for long. There is a lot of olive paste, olive pomace residue, bubbles, etc. in the oil obtained from the squeezing. All of these substances are harmful foreign substances that should no longer be in the oil. It is very important for the quality of the oil to eliminate these foreign substances by passing them through various filters without losing time after pressing. Because these substances contain oxygen both in molten form and in the form of small bubbles. Oxygen causes oxidation in the oil and quickly deteriorates the quality of the oil. It is indispensable to keep the quality of the oil intact, immediately after the oil is squeezed, first passing it through a blunder type filter and purifying it from large foreign particles, and then passing it through a paper filter and micron-level particles. The "unfiltered" discourse and marketing presented with the perception that it preserves its naturalness in our country is one of the biggest misconceptions about olive oil.

9- Storage and Protection

In order to store olive oil for a long time, it is necessary to store it in optimum conditions and to provide an environment where its quality will not deteriorate. The ideal preservation condition of olive oil is to isolate the oil from light, moisture, oxygen and external environments and store it at 16-20 degrees. For this, the room condition in which the oil is located must be constant between 16-20 degrees, at the same time, the storage tanks in which the oil is located must be impermeable, opaque, suitable for providing an oxygen-free environment with nitrogen or argon gas, having a heat and pressure indicator, made of stainless steel or chrome. Stored oil should be insulated from all kinds of electrical magnetic fields, especially high temperature, light and oxygen. In order to maintain the quality of the oil, it is essential to store it in suitable conditions. Otherwise, all of these factors deteriorate the quality of the oil.

10- Filling

While the oil stored in suitable conditions is transferred from the tanks to the bottle or can, and filling is done, it is ideal that this work is done not by hand, but by suitable and sufficient filling machines, without contact with light and oxygen. In addition, since the bottles to be used for filling are transparent or light-colored, which means that the oil is affected by light, dark-colored bottles that are opaque to light should be preferred in order to preserve the quality. The tins must also be in the desired standard, made of impermeable and stainless material and produced in EU standards. In our country, there are not many problems in terms of tin, but olive oil, which is still offered in many markets, is sold in plastic pet bottles or packaged in transparent glass bottles.

11- Consumption

Olive oil bottle or can is exposed to oxygen from the moment it is opened. Therefore, it is possible to decrease the aroma of the oil, which cannot be consumed within three months, to increase its acidity and to lose its richness in terms of polyphenols. Therefore, it is not a situation where we want a quality olive oil to be filled in large tins that cannot be consumed within 3 months. That's why we, as Pallas, fill our oil in maximum 2 liters tin cans.