Authors: Nadia Calabriso, Egeria Scoditti, Mariangela Pellegrino, Maria Annunziata Carluccio

The Mediterranean Diet, An Evidence-Based Approach, 2015, Pages 135-142

Abstract- Among vegetable oils, olive oil and, in particular, extra-virgin olive oil, have nutritional and sensory characteristics that make it unique and a basic component of the Mediterranean diet. Olive oil has always been used over the centuries for its preventive and therapeutic properties, as well as a precious and valuable dietary added fat. Extra-virgin olive oil is obtained exclusively by mechanical and physical processes including collecting, washing, and crushing olives, malaxation of olive paste, centrifugation, storage, and filtration. The chemical compounds of olive oil that contribute to its overall therapeutic characteristics are reported in other chapters of this book. Here we deal with the basic characteristics of olive oil, including production and consumption, as well as technological factors influencing the quality of olive oil, including the qualitative and quantitative phenolic composition.

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