Olive oil Production

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Olive oil Production

• Spanish olive oil

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Obtaining virgin oils

• Olive tree
• Typical mediterranean
• Slowly grow
• Fully productive ages 35-100 years

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Flowsheet

• Olive tree
• Olive
• Transport
• Mill
• Washing
• Crushing
• Grindling
• Press/centrifugue
• pressing
• centrifugation
• decantation
• Virgin olive oil
• Storage

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1. Harvesting the fruit

• Olives trees flower in spring
• Change from green to black
• End autumm/beginning winter harvest
• - picked by hand or beaten from the trees with
  baras
• -mechanical tree shaking methods

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2. Transport to the oil mill

• The olives must be free of stones
• To avoid braking the skin, as this would lead the
  beginning of the fermentation
• The olives must not be piled up high or else they
  will heat up and start to ferment.
• Olives must be processed within 24 hours after
  they are harvested to obtain quality olive oil

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3. Washing

• On the conveyor belt the leaves are separated by
  an air current
• They are washed with normal water after they are
  selected for quality

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4. Grinding to prepare the paste

• Grinding consists of crushing the fruit
  (including the pits - ?) until a paste is formed
  which is then beaten. Water is added if
  necessary.

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5. Separation of solid and liquid phases (oil
extraction)

• Several methods, but it is essential that the
  temperature does not exceed 35º C
• Traditional system (pressing)
• Classic discontinuous plants
• These are the classic plants maintained
  throughout the centuries. The ground paste is
  placed between round mats and is then pressed to
  squeeze out the oily liquid (mixture of oil and
  water). It is later left to decant, as the oil
  floats to the top due to density differences.

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5. Separation of solid and liquid phases (oil
extraction)

• Continuous system (by centrifugation)
• Continuous plants in 3 phases
• The beaten olive paste is made more liquid by
  adding 1 litre of water per kilogram of paste and
  is taken to a horizontal centrifuge where solids
  are separated from the oily liquid. This liquid
  is then taken to a vertical centrifuge where the
  olive oil is separated from the fruit vegetable
  water.
• Continuous plants in 2 phases
• The process is practically the same as the one
  described above, with the difference that instead
  of adding water for the horizontal
  centrifugation, the vegetable water is recycled.

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Advantages of the continuous system

• High production capacity, which avoids having a
  stock of olives and therefore increases the oil's
  quality
• Improves performance, cleanliness and hygiene
• In the 2 phase plants, recycling the vegetable
  water means the oil has a larger quantity of
  polyphenols, natural protectors against oxidation

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6. Storage

• Walls and ceilings insulate against high
  temperatures and which does not add strange
  smells to the oil.
• Temperature is between 15 and 18º C to allow the
  oils to mature without oxidation.
• There must not be much light.

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Non Virgin Oils

• Refining
• Due to climate conditions, the type of soil and
  so on, virgin oils can have several defects, such
  as high acidity, a strange colour or aroma, etc.
  which makes them unsuitable for human consumption
  ("lampante oils"). They have to undergo a
  refining process to eliminate defects.

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Refining

• 1. Classic alkaline refining
• This has 3 phases. Each one tends to eliminate a
  specific process
• -neutralisation-bleaching-deodorisation
• 2. Physical refining
• It is different from the previous method as acid
  water is used instead of soda to purify the oil
  and the temperature is higher.

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Kinds of olive oils (Virgin oil)

• Extra virgin olive oil virgin olive oil which
  has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of
  not more than 0.8 grams per 100 grams
• Virgin olive oil virgin olive oil which has a
  free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of not
  more than 2 grams per 100 grams
• Ordinary virgin olive oil virgin olive oil which
  has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, of
  not more than 3.3 grams per 100 grams
• Virgin olive oil not fit for consumption as it
  is, designated lampante virgin olive oil, is
  virgin olive oil which has a free acidity,
  expressed as oleic acid, of more than 3.3 grams

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Kinds of oils (refined oils)

• Refined olive oil is the olive oil obtained from
  virgin olive oils by refining methods which do
  not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic
  structure. It has a free acidity, expressed as
  oleic acid, of not more than 0.3 grams per 100
  grams
• Olive oil is the oil consisting of a blend of
  refined olive oil and virgin olive oils fit for
  consumption as they are. It has a free acidity,
  expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 1 gram
  per 100 grams
• Olive-pomace oil is the oil obtained by treating
  olive pomace with solvents or other physical
  treatments, to the exclusion of oils obtained by
  re esterification processes and of any mixture
  with oils of other kinds. It is marketed in
  accordance with the following designations and
  definitions
• Crude olive-pomace oil
• Refined olive pomace oil