The Characteristics of olive oil
Olive oil is mainly evaluated on the basis of two essential characteristics - the quality (acidity, K markers, peroxides etc.) and its organoleptic characteristics (flavour, aroma, colour etc.). One of the key criteria for qualitative assessment, which determines both its commercial value and the category it belongs to, is the oil’s acidity.
The degree of acidity indicates the oleic acid content of the olive and is expressed in grams of free oleic acid per 100 grams of fat.
The acidity is directly dependent on how the olives are harvested up and stored (time and method), how they are treated at the mill and to what extent the olives are damaged.
The organoleptic characteristics depend directly on the variety of the olive, the quality of the soil, the climate of the area it was grown in, the care with which it was cultivated (healthy trees have healthy fruit), whether the tree was protected properly, how mature the olives were on harvest, how they were harvested (whether contact with the earth was avoided) and how they were pressed and stored (olives & olive oil).