After the olive harvest, and once sent to the mill, the olives are washed and then crushed in a hammer mill to form a paste. This paste is then sent to the decanter which allows the oil to be separated, water and pomace by centrifugal force. Finally comes the bottling and labeling phase at the end of the chain..
This video explains in detail the work required to make’olive oil.
Find out how to harvest olives
In the previous video, you can re-discover how olives are harvested.
Olive oil processing involves extracting oil from olives and preparing it for consumption. Here are the main steps in the processing of olive oil :
- Olive harvest : the olives are picked manually or mechanically when they are ripe, usually between October and December. The quality of olive oil is influenced by the quality and state of maturity of the olives at the time of harvest..
- Cleaning and sorting of olives : the olives are cleaned and sorted to remove the leaves, branches and other impurities.
- Crushing of olives : the olives are ground into a coarse paste using a grinder or mill.
- Mixing the dough : the olive paste is kneaded to separate the oil from the other components of the paste, such as water and solids.
- Oil extraction : the oil is extracted from the paste using a hydraulic press or by centrifugation.
- Oil filtering : the oil is filtered to remove impurities and suspended particles.
- Oil conditioning : the oil is stored in appropriate containers, such as metal or plastic canisters, or glass bottles, and labeled with relevant information, such as production date and type of oil.
There are different types of olive oil depending on the quality and the transformation process. For instance, extra virgin olive oil is produced from fresh, cold-pressed olives, without any chemical treatment or refining, while virgin olive oil is produced from lower quality olives and may undergo chemical treatment or refining. Refined olive oil is produced from virgin or lower quality olive oil and undergoes chemical treatment and refining to remove impurities and taste imperfections.
