Basic Knowledge for Olive Oil ---- I

1. What is Olive oil

Olive oil is the natural fruit juice which is cold extracted from fresh olives in a short time after fruits are manually picked. It is mostly produced along the coast of Mediterranean. In Western countries, olive oil is known as the oil of health by nutritionists, medical scientists, food science researchers, as well as consumers. It is also considered as “liquid gold”, “beauty of the oil”, “Mediterranean honeydew” in the international arena. International Olive Council (IOC) defines olive oil as the oil extracted from olives (the fruit of Olea europaea). The juice is neither processed with other solvent, nor mixed with other oil.

Olea europaea L. (botanical name of olive tree) has a long history and is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae and for the genus Olea. Olive trees are cultivated around Mediterranean for its most suitable soil, temperature, sunshine, humidity and rainfall. Far away from Mediterranean, olive trees can be planted sporadically only in fitness zone. Olive tree is a species of long life. Although it takes 4-5 years for the trees’ preparation for fruiting, they can fruit for almost 50-100 years. With a core inside, the fruit is pretty similar to jujube growing in China. The three months from March to June see trees’ flowering and fruit bearing. In the next three month, fruits grow, mature and turn green, red, purple and at last black. From September to February in the next year, it’s time to pick fruits. Physical properties and chemical ingredients of olives will vary due to their species, maturity, geographic environment, soil condition and planting ways.

2. Ingredients of olive oil

Relying on its incomparable taste, culture about olive oil has become precious and a heritage for cooking around Mediterranean countries. In addition, olive oil obtains superior nutrition and treatment value, which has been verified by more and more scientific researches.

Biological functions of olive oil mainly come from its ingredients, which is also the research core to olive oil. Continuous research will help us to know more about effects of olive oil. As natural juice, olive oil remains its taste, aroma, vitamins and all other properties.

Olive oil consists of two parts, saponifiable and unsaponifiable. Saponifiable parts make up 98.5-99% in the oil and are composed of triglycerides, while the unsaponifiable parts make up only 1-1.5% and consist of trace elements. Although the latter are in small amount, they are also very important.

Species and growth conditions determine proportion of fatty acid in triglycerides. The main ingredient of fatty acid is monounsaturated fatty acid, which makes up 55-83%. A large amount of unsaturated ingredients and antioxidant constituents makes olive oil stabler.

Beside special proportions of fatty acid and trace elements in it, olive oil also contains large quantities of antioxidant and vitamin (including Vitamin E, polyphenol compounds and carotenoids). A series of studies show that olive oil can play its role in stimulating metabolism, strengthening medical efficacy, anti-oxidating cells, preventing free radical damage, fighting against cancer and anti-aging.

Now olive oil is normally packed in glass bottle, but as per the expansion of human activities, people prefers to use mono dose package for small volume such as 10ml 14ml monodose olive oil capsule filling sealing machinery ,If you want to know more, please feel free to contact us