About EVO acidity
Each EVO producer, worldwide, believes to be making the best product of all. I believe the same but finally the consumer is the real judge of the product. To this respect, it is important to clear the field of wrong interpretation when talkig about oil acidity. The acidity is the value which better describes the chemical quality of the oil, describing the molecular integrity by the quantity of fatty acids separated from glycerol (nothing to do with the four basic flavours): the better the integrity of the molecule the lower the acidity.
Nevertheless the word “acidity” induces us to confuse it with the spicy or bitter flavors which belong to all EVO in variable magnitude. Nothing more wrong than that! Spicy and bitter flavours suggest instead the presence of a fundamental group of aromatic substances , the ployphenols, which are powerful natural antioxidants. In other words, what we often take as acidity is instead the characteristic of fresh and healthy EVO e so with very low acidity.
An Evo produced with fresh olives, at the right stage of ripeness, properly processed and stocked will show a very low value of acidity.
To the opposite, squeezing spoiled olives or using incorrect processes determine the separation of the fatty acids from glycerol increasing the acidity and causing unpleasant taste or smell.