Marche Breaks

Oil and Diet

Oil has always been a basic element of the Mediterranean diet, well known and appreciated all over the world, for its taste and as a balanced and equilibrated supply of calories.

In ancient times Greeks and Romans already acknowledged nutritional and curative virtues of olive oil.

Today, having concrete scientific proofs, dietologists and nutritionists all over the world confirm that the olive oil is healthy and that it is a precious ally against the “diseases of affluence”.

This wholesome food has almost no saturated fats, and thanks to its high level of oleic acid, it protects the heart and the arteries, slows down the bone aging process, prevents the arteriosclerosis and reduces the cholesterol levels.

If we add to these qualities the fact that it is particularly tasty and that it is easily digestible, we can deduce that it is a unique and precious nourishment that should never be missing from our table. Extra-virgin olive oil is a fundamental element in everyone’s diet and is also a source of energy, quickly digestible, and because of that, it is widely recommended in the diet of those who regularly practice sports.

It is excellent for children’s diet because it is very rich in oleic acids. It is very useful late in life since it prevents the arteriosclerosis and limits the calcium loss in bones. It is rich in vegetable fats, so important for supplying our body with health and energy. And last but not least, it is delicious.

Marche and Olive Oil

There are many different qualities of olive cultivated in this region, and their fruits are used both as a food in itself and for oil production.

The cultivation of the olive tree has ancient origins. Evidence of the quality of the olive oil from the Marches can be found back in Medieval times when the ships, (coming from the Marches region) in order to be able to berth on the shores of Ferrara, were charged a toll, the ‘ripatico’, which took the form of twenty five pounds of oil. This is the historical proof that the oil from the Marches was considered to be superior to that from other areas. In the thirteen hundreds, oil from the Marches was sold to the Serenissima Republic and to Florence to the tune of over two thousand five hundred oil jars per year.

Still today, over seven thousand hectares (seventeen thousand five hundred acres) of specialised olive groves with a production of forty five quintals per year produce an extra-virgin olive oil with good organoleptic qualities and low acidity. The typical varieties are "leccino" and "frantoio", as well as the old, autochthonous species: Ascolana Tenera, Ascolana Dura, Capolga, Carboncella, Cornetta, Coroncina, Lea, Mignola, Nebbia del Menocchia, Nostrale di Rigali, Oliva Grossa, Orbetana, Piantone di Falerone, Piantone di Mogliano, Raggia, Raggiola, Rosciola Colli Esini, Sargano di Fermo, Sargano di San Benedetto

The Olive Milling

Olive oil extraction is the process of extracting the oil present in the olive drupes for food use

The oil is produced in the mesocarp cells and the oil is stored in a particular type of vacuole called a lipovacuole

Every cell contains a tiny olive oil droplet

Olive oil extraction is the process of separating the oil from the other fruit contents

These fruit contents are: vegetative extract liquid and solid material

The modern method of olive oil extraction uses an industrial decanter

All the phases are separated by centrifugation

In this method the olives are crushed to a fine paste and this can be done by a hammer crusher, disc crusher, depitting machine or knife crusher.

This paste is then malaxed for 30 to 60 minutes in order to allow the small olive droplets to agglomerate.

The aromas are created in these two steps through the action of fruit enzymes.

A bit of water is added to facilitate the extraction process with the paste.

Afterwards the paste is pumped in to an industrial decanter where the phases will be separated.

The decanter is a large capacity horizontal centrifuge.

The olive paste is separated into two phases: oil and wet pomace.

The phases are separated according to their different densities

Advantages: compact machinery - one decanter can take the place of several presses, continuous and automated, limited labor required, highest percent of oil extraction, vegetable water disposal less of a problem, olive oil from two-phase centrifugation systems contains more Phenols, Tocopherols, Trans-2-hexenal and total aroma compounds.