The quality criteria that are usually applied to the extra virgin olive oil are defined by:
• Chemical parameters such as acidity , oxidation state , and abnormal components
• Sensory analysis of its organoleptic characteristics ( smell and taste ) that defined by expertise ( taste panel ) by a olive oil tasting and determining their attributes or shortcomings.
Regarding the acidity is important to know that the acidity does not refer to what the word “acid” means normally. The “acidity” of an oil depends on the health of the fruits and from which essentially receiving treatment after these fruits detached from the tree and so far from the extraction of oil and even during this process.
As chemical parameter, acidity refers to the proportion of free fatty acids containing the oil, expressed in degrees. These degrees are not related to the intensity of flavor. There are many extra virgin olive oils, intense and fruity taste, the degree of acidity is very low. Extra virgin olive oil with low acidity oil is not a little flavor. It is the guarantee of a healthy fruit produced in optimal conditions throughout the process.
The oil quality is born in the field, the combination of environmental factures (climate and soil), genetic (variety of olives) and agronomic (culture techniques) and continuing with the following transactions harvest to bottling the oil.