Olive Oil Extraction Methods, Process, Steps

Introduction of Olive oil extraction methods:

Today, let us discuss Olive Oil Extraction Methods and Processes.

Olive oil is the oil obtained solely from the fruit of the olive tree to the barring of oils obtained using solvents or re‐esterification processes and of any mixture with oils of other kinds.

The Olive is a fruit name. At its purest and best, olive oil is the ‘juice’ of this fruit—just crushes and presses the olives and it will drip-free. Unfortunately, the process is infrequently kept that simple. There is a world of difference between developed extra-virgin olive oil and estate-bottled oil made from homegrown, hand-picked olives. The latter will more than repay itself in feature. Aromatic, fruity oil can turn an excellent meal into a great one.

Olive oil extraction is the process of extracting the oil there in olive drupes, known as olive oil. Olive oil is produced in the mesocarp cells, and stored in an exacting type of vacuole called a lipo vacuole, i.e., each cell contains a tiny olive oil droplet. Olive oil extraction is the method of separating the oil from the other fruit contents (vegetative extract liquid and solid material). It is possible to attain this partition by physical means alone, i.e., oil and water do not mix, so they are relatively easy to separate. This contrasts with other oils that are extracted with chemical solvents, normally hexane. The first operation when extracting olive oil is washing the olives, to reduce the occurrence of contaminants, especially soil, which can create a particular flavor effect called “soil taste”.

Olive oil extraction process:

Olive Oil Extraction Process.
Olive Oil Extraction Process.
  1. Harvesting and transferring:

One of the keys of our excellence in choosing the perfect time to harvest the olives by identifying the correct level of maturity with a healthy-looking, good size and color of the fruit. All olives start out green color and then gradually become rosy and finally black. Depending upon the type of oil the producer is making, a combination of all 3 may be used for milling. Traditionally, picking olives is done by hand. Today, more growers use modern machinery to help out harvest the crop. Then they are placed in plastic crates and are transferred directly to our state-of-the-art olive oil mill roughly within a few hours.

Read this: Poultry Farming Business Plan.

  1. Cleaning the Olives

The second step in the oil extraction process is cleaning the olives and removing the stems, leaves, twigs, and other debris left with the olives. The olives should be cleaned with water to remove pesticides, dirt, etc.  Rocks and sand will damage a hammer mill and speedily wear out a centrifugal decanter or oil separator, reducing the life span from 25 to as little as five years. It is amazing, and sometimes entertaining, to see what can be created in the bins with the olives. We have heard millers talk not only about rocks and branches, but wrecked glass, rings, bracelets, pieces of metal, knives, and even razor blades. Light contaminants are removed by a heavy air flow or blower and heavy objects sink in the water bath.

  1. Grinding the Olives into a Paste:

The olives are ground up, together with their stones, and mix into a homogeneous pulp. This is accepted in a stone-mill consisting of a horizontal lying granite block with a granite millstone resting perpendicular to it. Metal and hammer mills are also used for this purpose. If frozen or very dry olives are processed, a little quantity of water is added.

  1. Malaxing:

The next one is Malaxing. Malaxation is the action of gradually churning or mixing milled olives, typically for 20 to 40 minutes. The churning allows the lesser droplets of oil released by the milling process to aggregate and be more easily separated. Oil yield is relative to the temperature and mixing time. It takes place below a controlled atmospheric pressure and temperature that does not exceed the 22-25 degrees °C/71.6 – 77°F per variety (cold pressing) which is necessary for maintaining the highest quality of olive oil. This process lets us be successful three goals:

  • To make sure that the olives are well grounded
  • To guarantee sufficient time for the olive drops to join to form the largest droplets of olive oil
  • To allow the fruit enzymes to make some of the oil aromas and tastes
  1. Separating the oil from the vegetable water and solids:

The next step consists in separating the oil from the respite of the olive components. This used to be done with presses (hence the now somewhat obsolete terms first press and cold press), but is now done by centrifugation, excluding in older facilities. Some centrifuges are called three-phase because they divide the oil, the water, and the solids separately. The two-phase centrifuges divide the oil from a wet paste. In most cases, the oil coming out of the first centrifuge is additional processed to eliminate any remaining water and solids by a second centrifuge that rotates faster. The oil is then left in tanks or barrels where a last separation, if needed, happens through gravity. This process is called racking the oil. Lastly, the oil can be filtered, if desired.

  1. Extraction of residual oil:

The high-loaded waste water from the three-phase decanter is treated by means of a vibrating monitor and a centrifuge, the residual oil is extracted. The oil centrifuged twice flows into a collecting tank and is pumped by eccentric worm pumps in surface or underground storage space tanks. The solid waste from oil extraction by pressing still contains about 6 percent oil, using the continuous three-phase decanter, still 4 % olive oil. The oil content in the solid-liquid mixture from the dual-phase decanting process is 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent. In specialized plants the solvent extraction procedure is used for this purpose. First the waste is entirely dried and then extracted using hexane as solvent. The dry residues used as concentrated fodder. In some extraction process plants the stones are estranged from the pulp after extraction and used as fuel for heating of the driers. The pulp is sold as fertilizer or be fodder. In some oil mills the solid waste from the press is straightly used as fuel for the heating of water.

Read this: Contract Farming Objectives.

  1. Storing and packaging:

In our facilities there is a particularly organized department for packaging, with all the required certifications. After the olive oil is formed, we conduct chemical analysis to ensure the ultimate quality. We then divide the oil into lots based on olive variety and quality and store them in stainless steel containers, using nitrogen to fill empty space in the tanks so the olive oil is not bare to the air. Lastly, we use automated bottling equipment to fill our bottles or tins with the delicious extra virgin olive oil. The last product is sealed, labeled, and marked with batch number and its expiration date, and it is ready to be shipped all over the world in order to be enjoyed by our customers.

World olive oil production & consumption:

The average world olive oil production is 1.75 million metric tons or about 507 million gallons per year (olive oil weighs 7.61 pounds per gallon & there are 2,205 pounds per metric ton). On average, world consumption is 1.85 million metric tons or about 535 million gallons. A holdover from year-to-year assures a steady provide because the range in production is highly variable, mostly due to the influence of rainfall in the dry farmed production areas.

Health Benefits of Olive oil:

  • Olive oil is very rich in healthy monounsaturated fats.
  • Olive oil contains very large amounts of antioxidants.
  • It has strong anti-Inflammatory properties.
  • It may help prevent strokes.
  • It is protective against heart disease.

In case if you are interested in this: How To Grow Organic Lettuce.

1 COMMENT

  1. Sir, very good information. I feel to set up one AGRO project in Assam state. (for plenty of water & open fields, fertile soil).
    Regards.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here