HOW DOES TERRE APOLLINEUS ORGANIC EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL COME ABOUT?
Terre Apollineus organic extra virgin olive oil is born from the passion for good flavours, from the centuries-old tradition in the care and working of the olives, from the heart of our land, the Pollino National Park.
Terre Apollineus is a top-grade organic extra virgin olive oil, obtained directly from the cold pressing of the olives, carried out using only mechanical processes.
The olives of the Roggianella and Carolea varieties are harvested on the sun-drenched hills at the foot of the park. The resulting oil has a pale green colour. An aroma of green notes of medicinal herbs and artichoke. The bitter and spicy flavour of medium intensity, a hint of almond and aromatic herbs. It has very low acidity and excellent stability over time.
The olives are harvested from mid-October with the use of shakers, which “comb” the branches and do not damage the plants. Harvesting in organic farming takes place a little before the fruit fully ripens to prevent attacks of the olive fruit fly, and also so that the oil can have a higher content of antioxidants.
Within a few hours of harvesting, the olives are transported to the mill for milling.
In addition to the cultivation of organic land and trees, olives must be ground at a mill approved for organic production and inspected by the relevant controlling body and the competent Ministry. Our milling company uses the highest standards of processing and professionalism of the Boscari oil mill, which also provides for the storage, filtering and bottling our Organic oil.
Once at the mill, the olives are washed, crushed and stirred continuously. This latter process, also known as kneading, precedes and facilitates the squeezing phase, which serves to extract the oil by separating the liquid parts (composed of water and oil) from the solid parts (pomace). The next step involves separating the oil from the water, which together with the pomace constitute the by-products of the processing.
CONSERVATION OF THE OIL: STORAGE AND FILTRATION
After the extraction of the oil, it is important to conserve the oil. Storage takes place in stainless steel tanks, to protect the product from light and keep it at a temperature between 12 and 18 degrees, an essential requirement for conserving the properties of the final product. Our organic oil is filtered. By filtering the oil, all impurities are eliminated, consisting of micro droplets of vegetable water and solid particles deriving from the pulp of the olives – whose presence determines the cloudiness of the oil – and which can trigger fermentation processes that degrade the sensory and chemical characteristics of the product. Usually, it is thought that cloudy oil is more authentic, in reality unfiltered oil is good if consumed when it is freshly crushed, but not months after its extraction.
Cold extracted organic oil.
The whole extraction process takes place at a temperature below 27°C, which allows you to obtain oils with low peroxide values, a low yield, but the organoleptic characteristics of the olives remain unchanged.
Olives free of foliage and impurities, short times in the harvesting-milling process and cold extraction make the Terre Apollineus Organic extra virgin olive oil an oil of the highest quality.
