EVO OIL: HOW TO RECOGNIZE IT?

How to recognize Virgin Olive Oil, a series of checks to be called Extra Virgin.

Virgin oliveoil has always been considered the elixir of long life. Characterized by its straw-yellow color, it is considered “the gold you can eat,” rich in nutrients and vitamins beneficial to our bodies.

Despite being an important condiment at the base of our diet, oil has never held much importance in the eyes of producers and/or consumers, so much so that, in the past, it was considered a low-quality product that did not have to cost much.

It was only since the middle of the last century that people began to talk about Virgin Olive Oil as a nutrient with special organoleptic characteristics, when the American doctor Keys began to study the Mediterranean diet by analyzing its effects on the inhabitants of a small village on the Amalfi coast. It should be remembered that the basis of the Mediterranean diet is olive oil, so it is possible that it is its presence that guarantees the beneficial effects of this healthy eating habit.

The importance of oil quality, however, began to gain interest only from 1991, when the European Commission drafted the first specification describing the oil and its special characteristics, defining it as a panacea for human health and establishing the list of analyses to be done to determine its goodness. To be defined as Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the oil must be analyzed in a laboratory and must comply with certain parameters such as acidity, peroxides, spectrophotometric indices, ethyl ester and polyphenol content.

Dr. Antonietta Mazzeo

Posted by:

Alfio Lo Conte

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Tecnico ed esperto degli oli extravergini di oliva, iscritto nell’Elenco Nazionale sezione Campania. Maestro di frantoio con diploma, conseguito presso International Extravirgin Agency.

Read more articles by: Alfio Lo Conte