Olive oil effect, application and quality characteristics

Healthy oil from the fruits of the olive tree

The olive tree has been one of the Mediterranean cultures for millennia and has become a symbol of peace such as fertility, purity and wisdom. The mythological veneration of the olive as a sign of purity has a practical background: Even the ancient Greeks used olive oil to care for their bodies, and Greco-Roman writings praise the importance of stone fruit in medicine. The Bible and Qur'an are similar.

The Russians settled the olive in the south of the Russian Empire, the European conquerors brought them to America. Today it grows in Mexico like California, Peru, Argentina and Chile. Today, there are around 800 million olive trees in the world, most of which grow on the Mediterranean, in Spain, Greece, Tunisia or Turkey.

contents

• Healthy oil from the fruits of the olive tree
• Location and ecology
• Leaves and blossom
• olive oil
• Olives in mythology
• Athenes olive
• A symbol of the Mediterranean
• The holy branch
• Where olives thrive, there is peace
• Early medicine
• The olive tree
• A tough chunk
• The oil press
• quality levels
• Olive oil is healthy
• Skin care with olive oil
• How does the taste develop??
• How long does olive oil last??
• Olive oil and overweight
• Which olive oil is good?
• How can I tell if olive oil is getting bad??
• olive wood

Location and ecology

Olea europaea, the nominate form, is a fruit bearing tree - the olives are not sweet, but fruits. The real olive tree is very durable and tough. Dead wood replaces the plant with new ones, which makes the trees all the more gnarled the older they get.

Olive trees repeatedly replace dead parts with new ones, creating the typical gnarled growth. (Image: PIXATERRA / fotolia.com)

Leaves and blossom

Its leaves are hairy and have a leathery consistency. Thus, the plant ensures that little water comes out and blooms, even when it is dry. Thus, in the scorching heat of Andalusia, the olive supplies the farmers with fruit under conditions in which Central European apples would wither. Today, however, the groves are fertilized and provide so much higher yields.

The plant blooms in spring two months, the drupes are immature in November, until February they grow to full maturity.

olive oil

Between 20 and 300 olive trees grow per hectare, depending on the water. A single tree can carry up to 300 kg of olives, this is due to its age and size, normal is 20-30 kg per year.

The farmers either harvest by hand, with rods or vibrating machines. Dried stone fruit can only be harvested by hand so as not to injure the fruit. Then fatty acids are produced and the taste suffers. For the same reason, the best olive oil is obtained only from fruits that have been picked by hand and processed quickly, which is why it is expensive.

A fruit contains between 15 and 30% olive oil. That depends on the variety, climate and growth. The fruits weigh between one and up to 12 grams. Oil is obtained especially from small black and brown olives, edible olives mostly from large and green specimens.

Olive oil is mainly obtained from small black fruits. (complize | m.martins / fotolia.com)

Olives in mythology

Indigenous people in Crete have demonstrably used the olive as early as 6000 years BC. as an important food source. In ancient Greece, a winner of the Olympic Games got a branch of the olive tree. From Homer we know that the athletes of those competitions were on a diet with olive oil before they started.

In the Bible, the olive branch is a symbol of peace. Kings in the Ancient Near East were rubbed in with the oil of fruit - the word Messiah or Christ also means "Oiled one".

Athenes olive

Legend has it that the goddess Athena put a lance into the earth when Attica was founded, and from this grew an olive tree that gave people wood, oil and food. Thankfully, the inhabitants named the city after the goddess: Athens.

This myth shows that the plant was already a livelihood for humans in antiquity. The Athenians used the oil for body care, medicine and food; the stone fruits they ate; the wood was fuel and building material. Even today, olives are an important product of the Greek economy.

Because of its longevity, it also became a symbol of immortality; their life-giving qualities made them a symbol of fertility: for example, pregnant Greek women lay down under the tree because the children of the gods were born there.

A symbol of the Mediterranean

The separation between the Mediterranean and Africa lay in the notion of antiquity between the lands where, of course, the olive grew and where the palm trees took its place. Already in the Neolithic period people cultivated olive trees systematically.

In Knossos, Crete, archaeologists discovered antique containers with olive pits. (Image: tuulijumala / fotolia.com)

They were probably first cultivated in the Cretan Minoans, as evidenced by archaeological finds. Thus, the olive is mentioned in writing in the palaces of Pylos, Mycenae and Knossos. And that's not all: in Knossos, precise regulations have been handed down about the management of oil extracted from the stone fruit - 1400 BC. Here were also found containers with kernels of fruits that are much older. In other parts of Crete, archaeologists came across 3500-year-old olive presses. A mural in Knossos shows cultivated olive groves, as well as a mug from a royal tomb in Laconia.

In Greece, there were exact rules as to which shrines needed which quantities of olive oil as victims. In Athens it was forbidden to fell olive trees.

The holy branch

The Greeks took the trees with them to their colonies on the Turkish coast and in Asia Minor, but also to the south of France and with them the knowledge to grow, harvest and use them. It is known from today's Portugal that the early Iberians used butter to rub their bodies with it, but put on olive oil after the Greeks introduced olives.

The oil also served to cleanse the body of athletes. After training, the athletes rubbed the sweaty body with it and then removed it with a special instrument.

Even individual olive branches were considered sacred in Athens. Thus, priests of Athena had to provide for a criminal if he carried such a branch with him.

Profane objects were sanctified by the Greeks who rubbed them with olive oil. Even today, lamps with the oil are a religious accessory for Greek Orthodox Christians.

Where olives thrive, there is peace

The importance of the plant is also reflected in the fact that enemy troops in the Mediterranean area beat the olive groves bare to harm the enemy. Such a destruction was highly efficient, because a newly planted grove can only be used after about 30 years. That's why people used to store as much olive oil as possible in antiquity, and donating a jug to someone was not only valuable, but also a sign of peace.

The olive as a symbol of peace is certainly also due to its versatile importance for nutrition and medicine. It is probably more important, however, that olive trees, which only grow in peace for a long time, produce yield - that is, where the drupes thrive, there is peace.

A newly created olive grove can only be used after many years. (Image: zauberblicke / fotolia.com)

Early medicine

The forefather of modern medicine, Hippocrates, used olive oil to accelerate wound healing and to relieve muscle pain, for purposes that it still serves today.

The olive tree

Our term "oil" is derived from the Latin word "Oliva" and that from the ancient Greek "Elaiva". Vegetable oil equated antiquity with olive oil. In Spain today the olive is called "Aceituna", from the Arabic word "Al-Zytun".

The stone fruit was of immense importance not only among the ancient Greeks but also among the Romans, and so the Latin word oleum for olive oil prevailed throughout the Roman Empire for all types of liquid fats.

A tough chunk

The Mediterranean countries are not blessed with fertility, and under natural conditions, plants must be able to withstand heat and drought in summer. The real olive tree can do that brilliantly. It even needs nutrient-poor soils, dry heat and strong sunlight. Its roots reach up to six meters into the ground and draw water from the earth.

The trees are several thousand years old - that too contributed to their religious significance. In Macedonia there are specimens that were already witnesses of Alexander the Great.

The oil press

The kernel accounts for about a quarter of the weight of an olive, but 99% of the oil is in the pulp. The fruits are first cleaned, and then ground with the kernels. This slurry is then mixed with water and spread on mats, these are stacked and pressed together - either mechanically or hydraulically. Centrifuges separate the mixture of oil and water, the oil is filtered and clarified.

So we distinguish between the hydraulic press, which compresses the olive pulp into a mixture of olive oil and fruit water, and cold extraction, in which centrifuges separate the porridge into oil and fruit water. Such centrifuges work like juicers. In the end, the oil is filled into canisters, bottles or other containers.

Olive oil has very strict rules in the EU. For example, "extra virgin olive oil" may contain less than one percent acid. (Image: freila / fotolia.com)

quality levels

The oil extracted from the drupe has clearly defined quality grades in the EU. For example, cold pressing may only be called "native" or "extra virgin" if it contains no additives of other oils or olive oil extracted chemically or by heat.

The acidity must be stated. The less acid, the better the oil. "Extra virgin olive oil" contains less than 1% acid. "Extra virgin olive oil" has up to 2% acid, "pure olive oil" is a mixture of cold pressed and refined oil.

Extra virgin olive oil must carry the additive: "first grade - obtained directly from olives exclusively by mechanical means" and must contain, as well as the native a proper indication of origin. Cold extraction, cold pressing or first cold pressing may only be applied to the oil if the temperature during processing is a maximum of 27 degrees. Odor and taste may only be explained if they have been determined in an official investigation method.

Olive oil is healthy

The oil of the stone fruits lowers the cholesterol level in the blood and thus reduces the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), which occurs much less often in the Mediterranean than, for example, in Central Europe.

Olive oil contains a high dose of vitamin E, making it ideal for skin care, as Vitmain E affects keratin production and is necessary for smooth and healthy skin. Numerous studies have shown that vitamin E has a positive effect on the metabolic processes that play into a wide range of diseases.

The vegetable oil from the pulp and the core of olives is a natural antioxidant. It also contains polyphenols, and these strengthen liver and bile. Comparative studies show that it has beneficial effects in bile metabolism.

The phenolic compounds in extra virgin olive oil inhibit inflammation. These include hydroxytyrosol. The containing hydrocarbons protect against certain forms of cancer.

Epidemiological studies show that regular consumption has a positive effect on cancer prevention, especially breast and stomach cancer. Doctors suspect that the oil also has beneficial effects on colon, cervical and ovarian tumors, but there are still no valid studies.

It reduces the gastric acid output and this is an indication that it might also be effective against stomach ulcers or gastric hyperacidity. This is about the therapy to reduce stomach acid.

Skin care with olive oil

The healthy vegetable oil is suitable for the care of dry skin. It is best to shower warm and massage it into the stressed skin all over. Through the warm water, the pores have opened and the oil can enter the body. After a few minutes, they have a soft skin, and this lasts for several days.

Olive oil is a proven home remedy for dry skin.
(Image: andreswd / fotolia.com)

How does the taste develop??

The drupes directly from the tree taste so bitter that they are inedible. The taste of the oil obtained depends on the place of cultivation, the variety, the degree of ripeness, the storage and the vintage.

Bitter olive oil is made from unripe fruits. The bitter taste results from phenolic compounds, oleocanthal and oleuropein.

How long does olive oil last??

The healthy vegetable oil store well closed dark and cool at 10 to 16 degrees. The ingredients are sensitive to oxygen, so you should always close the container well. In addition, UV radiation will spoil the oil faster, so keep it dark.

Warm, open and in the sun it lasts only a few days, cool, protected from light and air, however, several years. The best is therefore a cellar in which they can store larger quantities. On the Mediterranean, wine cellars are often vaults for olive oil.

Olive oil and overweight

Although the Mediterranean diet of cereals, vegetables and pulses is high in olive oil, Mediterranean countries have a significantly lower rate of obesity than Central Europe.

Which olive oil is good?

This is where your personal taste first decides. Do you like it mild, fruity or slightly bitter, spicy or spicy? Try the oils. "Extra virgin olive oil" should guarantee good quality. But that has its price. Best varieties already cost 30 euros per liter.

There are over 350 olive varieties with different tastes. Some taste "nutty", others like avocado, apple, honey or green tomatoes. More than 70 chemical compounds provide the unique taste of the oil, including hexanal, noanal, 1-hexanol or 2-4 decadienal. Alcohols, ketones, ethers, esters such as furan and thioterpene derivatives.

EU standards often do not stand up to reality. The Stiftung Warentest rated in 2016 13 products of the best category as deficient. So the origin was wrongly stated, mix oils not declared as such, the samples contained pollutants and even mineral oil, pesticides and plasticizers.

How can I tell if olive oil is getting bad??

Bad oil can be recognized by its taste and smell. It tastes rancid and it smells rancid - like rancid butter.

Olive wood is great for cutting boards, bowls and other kitchen utensils. (Image: emuck / fotolia.com)

olive wood

Olive wood is an extremely hard wood, harder still than oak. It is very resistant to mold, insects and bacteria, eliminates odor and stains. Due to its high oil content, it rejects water. However, it also ruptures easily due to its hardness. It can also turn very bad.

The color ranges from yellow to medium red, traversed darker yellowish to medium reddish with dark stripes. The sapwood is light brown, the heartwood pale brown with a striking drawing. The fiber is rotating, the texture even and fine, the annual rings tight.

Wood of the olive tree can be machine poorly processed, since the alternating rotation obstructs the machines, and the hardness can dull tools quickly.

The density and hardness predestine it for kitchen boards, kitchen tops, etc., for all objects on which food is cut, also bowls or wooden spoons. Tableware made of olive wood should not be in the dishwasher.

The wood should not be used for outdoor furniture in Central Europe; Although it retains its shape outside, but easily breaks in the wet and splits.

Traditionally, it therefore also serves as an exclusive interior design - from the living room parquet to the side table. Its gnarled shape ensures that the annual rings are not round but tangled, warm colors, the grippy hardness and smooth surface make it a gem.

The resistance to mold and bacteria ensures extremely hygienic products when handling food. The wood of the olive tree is denser than all wood species of Central Europe and is surpassed only by some tropical woods. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)