The enormous difference between EXTRA VIRGIN olive oil and olive oil

Not all olive oils are the same. To understand the difference between these two products, it is necessary to know the origin of the king of the ingredients in the Mediterranean diet and which are its characteristics. After reading this article you will know better which one to use in your kitchen.

¿What is olive oil?

In practical terms, olive oil is the juice of a fruit that is extracted through a mechanical process.

The olive, the fruit that contains that precious "juice" is classified as a drupe, as well as cherries, plums or peaches, fruits that have inside a seed wrapped in a hard woody layer or bone.

But unlike sweet drupes, the olive has two peculiarities that make it unique among them. On the one hand, its pulp is bitter and on the other, even more important, its fleshy part contains a large amount of oily substance.

This substance can be extracted as if it was orange juice with mechanical procedures such as: squeezing, crushing and pressing.

During the production process of extra virgin olive oil, the addition of any type of chemical or solvent is not required, this particularity allows it to be classified as a 100% natural product and completely removes it from the type of production of other types of oils, such as of seed olis, which do require the addition of chemicals that allow their extraction.

However, not all oils produced from olives can be categorized as extra virgin. For this they must meet the following characteristics:

¿What should the label say?

• It must be mechanically cold pressed to give it an acidity equal or less than 0.8%.

• It must be oil produced only from the first extraction.

Keeping the oil extraction temperature below 27 Celsius ensures that its organoleptic and sensory characteristics are preserved. Above this threshold, the quality decreases, the acidity increases and it cannot be marketed as EXTRA virgin olive oil.

"Extra virgin olive oil is the king of oils, not only for its organoleptic characteristics and its appearance, but also for its properties and health benefits"

As consumers, we can check the veracity of extra virgin olive oil. The label should indicate: Extraction by cold pressing and first extraction and the year of production.

What is the main difference between olive oil and EXTRA virgin olive oil?

Starting from this base, the raw material used during production is not of superior quality as is the one destined for the production of extra virgin olive oil.

On the other hand, production and extraction also vary. Unlike the extraction of extra virgin olive oil, the pressing temperature of non-extra virgin olive oil is not strictly below 27 Celsius, which influences the variation of its flavor, its acidity and significantly alters its properties and benefits. .

In some cases, non-extra virgin olive oil is also obtained from a mixture of refined olive oil and virgin or extra virgin oil. Generating a lower quality oil because it is the result of cutting oils obtained through different processes. It is defined as a product with defects.

"Olive oil that is not extra virgin is defined as an oil with defects"