HomePRODUCTION AND PROCESSING OF ORGANIC EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
Organic extra virgin olive oil is exclusively obtained from healthy olives in their optimum ripening point. This kind of olive oil is produced in the olive oil mills solely by using mechanical or other physical methods under highly controlled conditions, which do not alter the oil in any way. The olives must be crushed within one day of picking, as they contain water which may ferment and oil which may oxidize; that is why the storage time can damage the quality of the final oil (this negative property is called “fustiness").
Once in the olive oil mills, olives are washed in order to reduce the presence of residues and afterwards, they are placed on the reception hoppers where they are to be classified by quality and variety.
More about organic olive oil
The use in Andalusia, Spain of these modern continuous systems makes the cold extraction and the processing of organic olive oil tremendously clean and respectful to the environment. This method reduces the production of OMWs (Olive Oil Mills Waste Waters) as it saves a considerable amount of water; this fact significantly minifies the environmental problem which has always been caused by the waste treatment of the residues generated by the processing of olive oil.
The functioning of this process lies in the fact that the paste does not fluidize, and so there are only two outlets: one for the oil and another one for the solid part (pomace). In this case, the OMWs are much less abundant than in other methods and they come out together with the pomace. The oil is then cleaned by adding water; it is run through a vertical centrifuge with two outlets which put apart the oil, which is now ready to be stored.
This storage is made in large tanks made of stainless steel or fibreglass which are placed in rooms under controlled light and temperature. In addition, the process of decanting the residues that the oil might contain is made inside these tanks.