“Five Stars” Italian extra virgin olive oil: Patented for its high quality in health aspects and sensory profiles.

A competitive olive culture: Between research and innovation.

The primacy is due to the typical Italian wide variety of olives and by the advanced and extensive organization of the processing platforms allows a production of a higher quality products compared to the rest of the world.

This is what was shown and highlighted during the inaugural convention at Fermo of Enoliexpo Adriatica also very glad of the developed technology in the sectors of oil and wine production. This conference had as topic the competitive olive culture and their research and innovation and was organized by Coldiretti Marche and Unaprol with the collaboration of Pandolea, an association also known as the women’s oil association.

According to the studies conducted in the last five years by Unaprol and by the national research centers of the Universities of Pisa and Perugia, there is the strong bond between the compounds responsible of the oil aroma with the cultivations and their production area.

According to says Prof. Maurizio Servili of the University of Perugia , “Basically the sensory characteristics of some domestic oil can be considered unique and hard to reproduce in other olive-growing areas in the world for their high content of oleic acid and the presence of phenolic compounds such as α-tocopherol and squalene". 

Referring to more than 5000 samples of Italian quality certified oils it is observed as most of them show values of oleic acid greater than the 70% with a median that stands at 75.6%. At global level production, the gap varies between 47% and 82% of the total fatty acid composition. The content of phenolic compounds analyzed in the Italian oils is greater than 300 mg per Kg with a median placed to 452 mg per Kg; however, worldwide it may vary between 40 mg per kg to more than 1200 mg per Kg. For the Italian oil the median value for the α-tocopherol is at 209 mg per Kg., while the worldwide gap can oscillate with values between 20mg per kg and 750 mg per kg.

Another record of the made in Italy is represented by the technology used in oil production in our country rather than the rest of the world. The first quality extra virgin olive oil is not the only product that can be obtained from the fruit of the olive tree. In the last six years Unaprol and the research facilities of the Universities of Perugia and Teramo promoted new approaches related to the use of co-products in the extraction mechanics of the fruit to better valorize the virgin olive oil. At the moment the olive fruit is only used in a partial way and below its potential. The oil extracted mechanically from the fruit represents only a marginal part of the entire raw material oil, ranking in percentage terms between 8% and 20% of the weight of the fruit. More than 80% of the olive fruit is transformed and are considered by-products because not economically valorized by the society. 

"Thanks to the studies supported by Unaprol, the profit of the national olive oil sector increased” President David Granieri said. “Unaprol in the last three years invested in scientific research over a million Euros, through a more rational and full use of the olive. This generated new economic opportunities in the supply chain and related industries connected to it".

At the end of the conference tastings were offered at the participants with the guidance of Marcella Cipriani, an agronomist and consultant of “Pandolea extra virgin olive oils from Marche” for Abruzzo.