s.c.a. San Isidro Castillo de Locubín - Jaén

Elaboration of the Oil

Everything begins in the field, with the culture and the collection of the olives. When processing a natural product 100%. The common objective of all is to obtain the best end item, through a very strict control of the quality.

The fruit of the olive tree is the olive (Swells European) and of her the olive oil is extracted. The composition of this fruit at the moment of the harvesting is very variable, depending on the variety of olives, the ground, the climate and the culture. On the average, the olives take in their composition:

• Oil: 18-32%.
• Water of vegetation: 40-55%.
• Vegetal bone and weaves: 23-35%.

All the varieties of olives produce excellent virgin oils, each one with their particular characteristics, as long as the olives are healthy, molturen he himself day of the harvesting and the oil is stored of suitable form.

It is fundamental to obtain a quality oil to collect the olive at his optimal moment of maturation, when the majority is changing of color (envero), as soon as they are left olives green and some are completely mature.

The ideal method of harvesting is the milking, by hand or with scrapers. Most important it is not to damage the olive and to transport it to the oil mill as rapidly as possible, so that the fruit is not deteriorated.

The olive is due to molturar in the day of its harvesting, since to the being a fruit with vegetal water that ferments and oil that oxidizes, the time of storage deteriorates the quality of the end item. The first zone that takes part in the obtaining of the oil is the one of reception, in this one will exist several hoppers where the olives gathered depending on the origin of these will be deposited, hoppers destined to different qualities from olive, being different themselves mainly the one from the tree can be found and the one that comes from the ground or with some possible defect caused by diseases or plagues.

In the oil mills the olives are cleaned and they are washed, in the zone of cleaning they exist powerful turbines that eliminate the leaves mainly and branches that accompany the olive; during the washing the stones are eliminated and the mud adhered to the fruit, thanks to a hydraulic tank and a system of sieves, the once clean olive is deposited in another hopper, the one of pesaje, simultaneously that, randomly, a mechanical device is gathering samples of the product to put under it chemical analyzes which they will determine his quality and its wealth approximated in oil.

In the oil mill the following processes are made of mechanical form: the molturación, pressed and the movement.

Molturación: It is made with crushing machines of hammer or stone teeth, that break vegetal weaves and release to the oil forming a homogenous paste the resulting paste happens to the termobatidoras; these usually have several communicated bodies of milkshake to each other, with which a homogenous mass with a recommended temperature is able of 25º C to obtain quality oils. In some occasions, and due to the nature or variety of the fruit, the use of an coassistant, the talc is necessary, that its extraction congregates the small drops of oil facilitating.

Pressed: This paste is put under a pressure in cold to remove to the oil and the vegetal water. The best oil is extracted of the pressed paste in first in cold.

Movement: In order to separate the water of the oil, the rest of vegetal water separate of the oil by natural movement or by means of vertical centrifugal machines to avoid the alteration of the qualities of the oil the virgin olive oil is analyzed in the laboratories of Control of Quality, as much to the reception as in the following phases of the process. In addition to the chemical analysis, to determine his composition, it is come to the tasting on the part of the masterful tasters. In order to conserve inalteradas the exceptional qualities of the virgin olive oil, stainless steel tanks or vitrified wine press is due to store in, to smooth and constant temperatures, in the dark and tranquility. The olive oil that have undergone some I break in its quality and they are not apt for its direct consumption, have to be refined. In the refinery we have an exclusive line to the olive oil, in order to avoid any contact with oils of another origin. The refined process of consists of:

• Physical Decoloration: by means of the absorbent action of the bleaching earth, that are a natural product highly purified, and a later filtration, retires the excess of pigmentación
• Desodorización: The free fatty acids that elevate the acidity of the oil and other components which they can give him to bad flavor and scent, are the result of the alteration processes that have undergone the olive and/or the oil. By means of a physical distillation with heating to the emptiness, one is able to retire these compounds, leaving the oil neutralized and corrected in his flavor.

The preparation of the olive oil consists of adding Extra Virgin Olive oil to the refined olive oil to contribute to him to flavor and color, in an operation called “heading”, directed by the panel of tasters, who guarantees the quality and the constant characteristics of our oils.

The temperature of tasting of the olive oil is of 28°C. It is the temperature that allows the volatileness of aromatic compounds in a dense and greasy liquid.

For the olive oil the same analytical phases are carried out that in the tasting of other liquid products like, for example, the wine: each sample in a different glass is put, is covered, it is smelled and it is tasted. Between each oil tasting, to clear the taste of the previous sample, one eats rodaja of apple and it drinks I suck of water.