We already know olives as a very healthy and quality food. However, we are also familiar with various types, tastes, and categories of olive oil. Before you pick up just any bottle of some cheaper brand you spot in the supermarket – try to recognize which one is actually good. That means you should know more about this product and be able to make a distinction between refined and unrefined types. So how can we tell that?
Olives – The Food Of Gods
According to Greek mythology, olives were the food of Greek gods – and their salty and specific taste always reminds us of the sea and the sun. They contain a high percentage of good fatty acids, and the word olive itself comes from the Greek word ‘olea’ – meaning oil. They are also full of vitamins, proteins, and sugar. It is a very useful product since ancient times. Today, we know its benefits and consider it an elixir of health and beauty. Its use is wide today – because we take it as food, and use it in cosmetics, and even medicine. According to nutritionists, it should be the basis of a healthy diet – and it is allowed even in some rigorous diets. We can get numerous advantages from this food – but still, we should learn how to make a selection and choose the good ones.
No.1 Rule: You Must Know How To Determine Quality
Nowadays, products such as olive oil are essential in our regular diet. This is also a crucial element of Mediterranean cuisine, so most people are familiar with it. It is produced when crushing the fleshy parts of olives, collected just before the final ripening, when they are a kind of green-purple color. This type of oil is of way better quality than those obtained from fully ripe olives. If we think about the advantages – the choice of good and unrefined products and ways to recognize them must be one of our priorities.
How To Distinct High From Low-Quality?
Today, the market is flooded with various brands of suspicious origin or quality. Unfortunately, it is a devastating fact that this is a product that is often counterfeited. Although Italy and Greece are known as famous producers of such oil, these countries are also facing the problem of fake production, and buyers can find it at unrealistically low prices. Therefore, one must be careful when choosing – especially if you’re looking for quality. So what do we need to know before buying it?
Make A Distinction Between Refined And Unrefined
According to the methods used for producing, we know two basic categories: refined and unrefined. Refined ones are obtained by chemically removing the essential juice from olives. That procedure is changing both the look and aroma – and it’s also destroying most of its ingredients. Pomace oil is considered to have the lowest quality. It is made of pomace – which is the solid remains of the olives after the pressing procedure. However, what we buy in supermarkets is mostly a mixture of refined olive pomace oil and so-called virgin olive oil. Of course, the most valued is the type we call the ‘extra virgin’. It is the purest type, where the acidity must not exceed a certain percent, usually around 0.8. The second best type is virgin, where a maximum of 2% acidity is allowed. Both are obtained by cold pressing and pressing methods – but their taste or color can differ, depending on the sorts of olives, the place where they grow, or the climate they were exposed to.
We must know that in recent years, precisely due to the decline in the quality of Greek and Italian brands – consumers are increasingly turning to producers from countries such as Morocco. Some of the best olive oils come from this place, and Moroccan virgin olive oil is famous for being made from hand-picked olives, which you can see on https://morocco-gold.com/.
How To Recognize Top Quality?
We know that the best extra virgin oil has a characteristic aroma – and it is usually of light green-yellow color. This type is unrefined and always has marked acidity that goes up to the determined maximum. Unlike that one, the refined type is thin, pale yellow, and has no characteristic taste – and it may be intensely green since producers add artificial colors. Also, it has no marked acidity. If you get the chance, always try it before you buy it. Never buy ones poured on tap, from an unknown manufacturer, or in plastic packaging. True extra virgin oil should always be in dark glass packaging.
A Simple Home Test Will Help You Find Out Whether You Have Purchased The True Olive Oil!
Is there any other way for consumers to tell if olive oil is refined or not? Yes, and it is very simple! If you have already bought a bottle, let it stay in the refrigerator for ten hours or more. If it thickens and hardens – then it’s the real thing. In case it doesn’t – then it probably contains additives. It is best to keep the bottle in the refrigerator for 24 hours because this test may sometimes show its flaws. Olives can be of different kinds, and the time of their picking may affect how long will it takes the oil to get thick. We must remember that olive oil contains over 70 percent of monounsaturated fats. When exposed to a cold environment such as the refrigerator, monounsaturated fats will stay in a solid or semi-solid state. However, polyunsaturated fats, such as those in sunflower oil, will always remain liquid. So, the true olive oil will harden – and the sunflower or a mixed oil won’t.
The Bottom Line
In the end, we can conclude that recognizing the true olive oil is not always an easy task. Namely, it may have a label that says “cold pressed” or “virgin” – but in practice, it occurs that such oils are combined with refined ones. Also, this is the industry where a lot of money is made – so it often happens that consumers are misled, although it is not forbidden to mix refined and unrefined oils. Therefore, if you wish to buy the right thing, you must know how to choose wisely. When you find what you are looking for – we are sure you will remain consistent with the same brand in the future.