Olive oil is one of the healthiest natural oils. It is obtained from the fruit of a plant named Olea Europaea. The fruit of this plant is known as an olive. Olive oil is used for various purposes like cooking, dressing of salads, in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, soaps etc.

These are all things we know about olive oil, however, what is the depth of our knowledge! I would request you look into this article rather seriously to understand that we can’t substitute one type for different olive oil. We have to pick carefully, and for this, you need to know how different can an extra virgin be from a cold-pressed variant?

But, we shall get into that step by step, let us begin from the beginnings!

Olive plants are grown in the Mediterranean basin. It is one of the three main plants of Mediterranean cuisine, while grapes and wheat make the other components of the golden trio. Talking about olive production, Spain is responsible for more than half the production of olive oil. Turkey and Greece are also known for producing olive oil.

Olive oil consists of oleic acid, fatty acid, linoleic acid and palmitic acid. The composition of these acids varies. Oleic acid makes nearly 83% of the olive oil, whereas the rest 17% is constituted by other acids. Would you like to know how olive oil gets digested? Read more (Article on is olive oil easy to digest?)

Types of Olive oil

There is so much variety in olive oil. These varieties depend upon texture, flavor and the shelf-life of olive oil. We are listing down a few broad categories of the various olive oils we’ll see in the market:

1. Virgin olive oil – The quality of this olive oil is not as good as the purest olive oil. It has nearly 1.5% free acidity. Although it tastes good and has a nice flavor, it is low in health prospects. Nonetheless, it is used in cooking for frying and sautéing.

2. Refined Olive oil –The refined olive oil is obtained from virgin olive oil. Virgin olive oil is refined in a way that the initial glyceridic structure isn’t disturbed. This oil has free acidity. Refined olive oil is usually blended with other stronger oils. Due to this, it is also known as blended oil and is used for cooking.

3. Extra Virgin Olive oil- This oil is completely pure as there is no chemical treatment done to it. It has nearly 0.8% of fatty acids. Its taste is considered much more superior than other olive oils. Not only the taste but the flavor and aroma of extra virgin olive oil is unique. It is best for dressing and sautéing of salads.

4. Extra light Olive oil – Extra light doesn’t mean that there are fewer calories and fats in this olive oil. Then, why the name, you ask! This olive oil has a lighter color. It is refined in a way that it loses most properties of natural olive oil. It is considered good for baking purpose or anything that doesn’t require strong flavour.

5. Cold Pressed Olive Oil – It is called cold-pressed olive oil because it is pressed in the absence of heat. This oil has a very good flavor. The price of cold-pressed olive oil is also higher compared to other olive oils.

6. Lamphanite olive oil – This variant of oil has an acidity of 2 degrees. It is recommended that the consumption of this olive oil should not be direct. The oil has a very unpleasant smell and taste. Due to these things, the refining of this oil is necessary.

7. Pomace olive oil- This variant of olive oil is a blend. The pomace refined olive oil is blended with virgin olive oil in an appropriate ratio.

All these variants of olive oil are used for different purposes. We will discuss more about extra virgin olive oil in this article.

How is Olive Oil Extracted From Olive Fruit

As discussed earlier, olive oil is made from the fruits of olive plants. Olive plants give fruits once a year. The harvesting of olive fruits starts in September and ends in January. A net is placed below the olive trees. It prevents the falling of olive fruits on the ground. Once, the harvesting is completed, the further process starts for oil preparation.

The collected olive fruits are stored in separate crates to prevent brushing and crushing of olive fruits. It is important that the crushing of olive fruits should be done within 2-3 days after harvest. Till then, the olive fruits are stored in a cool and shady place. These olive fruits are cleaned to remove the dirt from them. After cleaning, the process for oil extraction starts.

For the olive oil extraction, the olive fruits are crushed. The crushing can be done by various techniques.

Either, a heavy stone roller is passed over olive fruits or hammering is done on them.

Big mechanical steel grinders are also used to crush the olive fruits.

After crushing of olive fruits, a thick paste is obtained. This thick paste of crushed olive fruits is again homogenously mixed. It is done to extract the oil. On mixing the thick paste, three components are obtained.

One is Olive oil and the others are water and sand particles. The extracted olive oil is then filtered. Filtration is done to remove any type of dirt particles from the oil. For decanting, the extracted olive oil is passed to big stainless steel containers. Stainless steel containers are said to be best for storing olive oil. The stainless steel containers block the light which prevents rancidity of olive oil. Colored or transparent glass containers are also good for storing olive oil. Different variants of olive oil are prepared after performing some other processing.

Difference Between Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Cold Pressed Olive Oil

Extra virgin oil is the purest form of olive oil. It’s not mixed with ANYTHING AT ALL! So, it is olive oil purely! However, that raises concern over can you cook with it.

It’s heating point or smoke point is low compared to other olive oils on the shelf. But wait, what is a smoke point? You can go about it right here. Read more! (Connect to article about Olive Oil Heating Point)

Extra virgin olive oil is said to have the best taste. It doesn’t pass through any heat treatment like the refined olive oil does. The process for extraction is similar to any other olive oil. The production starts with harvesting of olive fruits. After harvesting, olive fruits are cleaned and their crushing starts. The crushing of olive fruits gives a thick paste. This paste is used for the extraction of olive oil. After extraction of olive oil, decantation is done to remove any other impurities. For the production of extra virgin olive oil, none of the heat or chemical treatments is deployed on the extracted olive oil.

Now, one way of making extra virgin olive oil iis cold-pressing the olives and storing the paste obtained. However, you could also cold-steer and centrifuge the fruits into a grinder to make extra virgin olive oil.

So, not all extra virgin olive oil is cold-pressed.

Cold pressed olive oil essentially is the sap we obtain from crushing olives at a temperature below 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The process of making cold pressed olive oil and extra virgin olive oil is similar but extra virgin olive oil isn’t refined.

If you would like, you could refine cold-pressed olive oil to ame various varieties of olive oil. Most cold-pressed saps are heated to make virgin olive oil. Refining it will reduce acidity. It also improves the taste. We sometimes have to deploy chemicals for the process. Bleaching is also done to refine the olive oil. Bleaching removes natural pigments like carotenoids, chlorophyll etc. These pigments have their benefits. As a result, some nutrients are also removed from the olive oil. That’s why you should go for non-refined oils which will provide you with many nutrients.

Extra virgin olive oil is prepared from fresh, pure olives that were cold-pressed. If you buy olive oil having a label that says “cold pressed”, it means that the olive oil was refined. The first cold-pressed olive oil is made by crushing olive fruits only once. First cold-pressed olive oil refers to the crushing of olives only once at a temperature that doesn’t exceed 80-81 degrees Fahrenheit. Many manufacturers crush the olive fruits multiple times at high temperatures for their benefit. This decreases the nutritional value of your olive oil.

During the preparation of extra virgin olive oil, no heat is involved. Due to this, sometimes, extra virgin olive oil is labeled as cold-pressed. The color of extra virgin olive oil is forest green. The taste is a little peppery and its aroma is fruity.

While choosing olive oil, always focus on the nutritional values. Extra virgin olive oil is said to be the purest form of olive oil having the highest nutritional value.

Some facts about olive oil

• The cold pressed olive oil has high nutritionaI value- It is packed with nearly 30 plant compounds, most of which are potent antioxidants. It also contains healthy fats. It has nearly 71 % of unsaturated fats that comes from oleic acid. Many scientific studies say that unsaturated fats help lower the bad cholesterol level. The rest 11 % of fats in cold-pressed olive oil comes from omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids. Antioxidants present in cold pressed olive oil protects our body from unstable molecules also known as free radicals.

• The extra virgin olive oil works as an anti-inflammatory and boosts skin and hair growth – It has oleocanthal, which is a phenol compound responsible for the slight burning taste plus the healing traits . Oleocanthal also helps our body fight Alzheimer’s disease and kills any type of cancerous cells. Also, extra virgin olive oil has vitamin E, which is a fat-soluble antioxidant. One tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil has nearly 1.9 grams of vitamin E. This fat-soluble antioxidant boosts hair growth. It also improves the health of the skin.

• It is said that extra virgin olive oil prevents the risk of diabetes- Extra virgin olive oil has low saturated fats along with carbohydrates and fibres. Low-density lipoproteins are responsible for increasing blood sugar. The moderate amount of the above components helps in decreasing the low-density lipoproteins. As a result, the chances of diabetes decrease. Apart from these, extra virgin olive oil has fat-soluble vitamin K. It works on the blood and promotes healthy coagulation.

• Extra virgin olive oil reduces the risk of high blood pressure and improves good cholesterol- This particular olive oil is said to be very healthy for our hearts. Many studies say that if a person consumes olive oil regularly, they have fewer chances of developing high blood pressure later on in their lives. Extra virgin olive oil has nearly 40 antioxidants, which can reduce the level of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. These are bad cholesterols and can harm our body in various manners. Extra virgin olive oil boosts the levels of good cholesterol in our body simultaneously

• Cold pressed olive oil can cure prolonged inflammation- Inflammation can be dangerous if it is present for a long time. Prolonged inflammation can cause many other problems like heart disease, cancer, arthritis, diabetes etc. Cold pressed olive oil has many antioxidants which can cure this inflammation. It has concentrated fatty acids and oleocanthal. Oleocanthal works as an anti-inflammatory agent. Regular consumption of cold pressed olive oil can gradually cure the inflammation. As a result, it reduces the chances of probing various diseases like heart disease, arthritis, cancer, diabetes etc.

Conclusion

Olive oil is said to have uncountable benefits. It can improve our metabolism, and so, it is important that we use olive oil for cooking as much as we can. However, it becomes all the more important that you choose the right oil. Not all olive oil is good as we have learnt some variants don’t have any nutrition to offer. As for extra virgin olive oil, you will be lucky to get one. If you find an unrefined cold-pressed oil, it’s the same. However, do read the contents and review the crafter.

In the present time when keeping ourselves healthy is a challenge, small changes can make our health better. Replacing daily use oil with extra virgin or non-blended non-chemicalized and pure cold-pressed olive oil can improve our heart health. The high amount of antioxidants present in unrefined olive oil are beneficial for our health. While buying any type of olive oil, the nutritional value should be kept in mind.