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From Olive to Oil

From Olives to Olive Oil

The Extraction Process

The extra virgin olive oil is the only one vegetable fat that is extracted by the fruit of a tree. It is the only one fat 100% natural, becouse is obtained only using mechanical methods (squeezing the fresh olives), without using any chemicals. In fact it is one of the few food product that does not have a list of ingredients because it is single ingredient (100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil).
The olive tree is a plant that does not need a lot of water to grow and to survive a medium dry periods (30-60 days), it does not like too much moisture and it can not stand temperatures below 0 °C. In fact, a particularly harsh winter with very rigid temperatures for a few weeks can lead to death of the olive tree. For this reason, it grows mainly in the Mediterranean countries and other areas of other continents that have climatic characteristics very similar to those of the Mediterranean countries.


The harvest period of the olives commonly begins from November of each year. The harvest lasts until January in Italy and Greece and continues until March in Spain.
From the accuracy of the harvest, begins the treatment of olives to produces extra virgin olive oils more or less valuable, and where the experience, professionalism and the know-how of the Italian Olive Oil Producers proves its superiority if compared with olive oils produced in other countries.



The olives are harvested shaking trees and beating it by reeds, without letting them touch the ground, to avoid contamination with soil and then are immediately brought to the mill for milling within the shortest possible time (within 24 hours). Then the olives are separated from impurities and leaves and possibly washed and sent directly below the mill, which consists of large granite wheels that, in a few minutes, they grind, chop the olives until you make a smooth olives paste.


At this point begins the phase of mixing, that is to continue to rub the olive paste to facilitate the incorporation of small droplets of oil that must be pooled until they became increasingly large.
After this phase, begins the mechanical pressing, without additives and additives, which allows the separation of the liquid part (composed of oil and vegetable water) and the solid part of the core (called Sansa).
Next, through a centrifugal separator, the liquid is divided into vegetation water and extra virgin olive oil. Then, the obtained oil extra virgin (not filtered), must be filtered to allow a long-term preservation, and next it will be stored in silos of stainless steel at a temperature not exceeding 30°C.

  

What the common people may not know is that, in the world there are over 300 different varieties of olives, and that each variety gets an extra virgin olive oil with its own characteristic of flavour, different by each other olive oil obtained from other variety of olives (it is the same difference as you get a specif wine by a specific grape, different in flavour by a wine obtained by a different variety of grape).
In addition, each batch of extra virgin olive oil (also if obtained from the same variety of olives) has slightly different characteristics depending on the climatic conditions, on the different composition and mineralization of soil cultivation, on the distance from the oil mill, on the different care and selection of olives, and many other little tricks that in addition to changing the flavor and aroma, give rise to extra virgin olive oils with different characteristics, each suitable for different uses.
All of this makes it clear how the world of extra virgin olive oil is so vaste and makes it clear the importance of the experience and of the professionalism of SUD ITALIA ALIMENTARI SRL in selecting the best qualities and the best lots of olive oils.