Discover the World of Olive Oil | Your Complete Guide
When it comes to purchase of olive oils, sometimes confusion can shadow our decision. What are all these types of olive oil and which one is better for my consumption?
To provide answers to your questions, we have used the classification system of the “EU Commission” for definition of types and description of oil characteristics. A similar classification is used in the United States and other parts of the world.
Olive Oil Categories Explained
Virgin olive oils are produced directly from olives using only mechanical or physical processes, without refining. Their characteristics—including aroma, flavor, bitterness, pungency, and color—can vary depending on the olive variety, growing conditions, climate, harvest timing, fruit condition, and extraction process.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is the highest grade of virgin olive oil. It must meet specific chemical and sensory standards, including free acidity of no more than 0.8%, expressed as oleic acid.
It must also pass sensory evaluation, with no detectable defects and perceptible fruitiness.
Lower free acidity can provide useful information about the condition of the olives and how carefully they were harvested, handled, and processed. However, acidity alone does not determine the overall quality of an extra virgin olive oil.
Virgin Olive Oil
Virgin olive oil is also obtained directly from olives using mechanical or physical processes, but it allows a higher level of sensory defects than extra virgin olive oil.
Its free acidity must not exceed 2.0%, expressed as oleic acid.
Olive Oil — Refined & Virgin Olive Oil Blend
Products labeled simply “Olive Oil” are different from extra virgin and virgin olive oils. They consist of refined olive oil blended with virgin olive oil suitable for direct consumption.
This category has free acidity of no more than 1.0%, expressed as oleic acid.
Unlike extra virgin olive oil, refined olive oil has undergone a refining process designed to remove undesirable characteristics before it is blended with virgin olive oil.
Other categories of olive oil can also be sold directly to consumers,but is not recommended due to lack of taste, flavor and nutritional value.
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- Olive oil composed of refined olive oil and virgin olive oils results of a mixture of refined olive oil with extra virgin and/or virgin olive oils. Its acidity degree shall not exceed 1% (1.0 gram per 100 grams).
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- Olive-pomace oil results of the mixture of refined olive-pomace oil with extra virgin and/or virgin olive oils. It must have a degree of acidity not exceeding 1% (1.0 gram per 100 grams).
Other categories of olive oil for refining or industrial purposes are not good for human consumption
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- Lampante Olive Oil is the lowest quality virgin olive oil. It has substantial sensory defects (taste and/or smell) which can be the result of bad processing of the olives, or of weather incidents altering the olive fruits while on the trees. Lampante olive oil must be refined in order to remove its defects. As such, it cannot be sold to consumers. After refining, the oil obtained is known as “refined olive oil”
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- Crude olive - pomace - oil olive-pomace is the residual paste obtained after the oil is extracted from the olives. The oil obtained out of this paste is the crude olive-pomace oil.
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- Refined olive oil has little or no olive aroma, flavor or color. Refined olive oil cannot be sold to consumers. It is blended with extra virgin olive oil and/or virgin olive oil to make the “olive oil composed of…” category.
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- Refined olive - pomace oil is obtained after the refining of crude olivepomace oil. Blended with extra virgin and/or virgin olive oils, it can be marketed to consumers as olive-pomace oil.
Early Harvest vs. Late Harvest Olive Oil
The difference begins with when the olive is picked.
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What’s the Difference?
The main difference between early harvest and late harvest olive oil is the maturity of the olives when they are picked. Early in the season, olives are greener and less ripe. As they mature, they gradually change from green to purple and eventually darker shades.
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Early Harvest Olive Oil
Early harvest olive oil is produced from olives picked before full ripeness. At this stage, the fruit contains less oil, so considerably more olives are needed to produce each bottle.
Early harvesting is often associated with higher polyphenol levels and more intense aromas. The resulting extra virgin olive oil typically has a fresh, fruity and herbaceous character, with greater bitterness and a distinctive peppery finish.
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Late Harvest Olive Oil
As olives ripen, their oil yield generally increases while their polyphenol concentration tends to decrease. Oils produced from more mature olives are therefore typically milder, softer and less bitter or peppery, with riper fruit aromas.
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What About the Color?
Early harvest olive oil can appear greener because young olives generally contain more chlorophyll, while oils from riper olives may appear more golden. However, color alone does not determine whether an olive oil is early harvest or indicate its quality. Olive variety, growing conditions, processing and storage can all influence the final color.
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Why Juicy Olive Harvests Early
Juicy Olive harvests olives early and cold presses them within 2 hours of harvest to preserve their freshness, aroma and naturally occurring polyphenols. The result is organic early harvest extra virgin olive oil with a fresh character and naturally high polyphenol content.
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Late Harvest Olive Oils tend to be more golden in color, as the chlorophyll content declines. At this stage, the phenolic compound levels in olive oil also declines. Compared to Early Harvest, these olive oils are less fruity, more floral, less pungent, and have a thicker texture.
What Does Free Acidity Mean in Extra Virgin Olive Oil?
Free acidity is an important chemical quality parameter used to evaluate extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). It reflects the level of free fatty acids in the oil and is expressed as a percentage of oleic acid.
To qualify as extra virgin olive oil, free acidity must not exceed 0.8%. Within this limit, achieving progressively lower levels generally becomes more demanding. An EVOO with 0.5% free acidity is well within the extra virgin standard, while levels around 0.3% indicate very low free acidity. Reaching 0.2% or below is particularly low and typically requires exceptionally sound olives, careful harvesting and handling, and rapid, well-controlled extraction.
Low free acidity can be an indicator of healthy fruit and careful production, but it should not be considered a measure of olive oil quality on its own. The overall quality of extra virgin olive oil also depends on its sensory characteristics and other chemical parameters.