One of the most precious jewels of our gastronomy is olive oil

It is frequently used to prepare cooked foods as well as to dress salads due to its high quality, recognized throughout the world. He extra virgin olive oil, which is obtained by pressing unrefined olives to preserve all their flavor, is the best olive oil available.

On the shelves of grocery stores and outlets we can also find other varieties of refined olive oil that are much cheaper. The acidity of these refined olive oils determines whether they are labeled as mild, intense or, more subtly, with a reference of 0,4 degrees or 1 degree.

Both are made with a blend of refined and virgin olive oils; the percentage of the former varies according to the producer or packer, but is usually between 80 and 90 percent. cheaper, while the second one was more or less more expensive.

Curiously, refined olive oil has no flavor, aroma or color, and the industrial process greatly reduces acidity. Since there are not many virgin olives in the mix, they do not add much to these qualities.

Industrially added tocopherols, or vitamin E, are also used in both cases of oil, either 0° or 1°. Because refined oil loses the natural antioxidants present in virgin olive oil, this is done to preserve the oil.

Consequently, the acidity of each olive oil, which varies depending on the amount of virgin olive oil added to the mixture, is what distinguishes a 0 point 4° olive oil from a 1 point olive oil .

It should be noted in this equation that not all virgin olive oils have the same level of acidity or taste power, but in theory, the more virgin, the more flavor, more intensity and more acidity.

Extra virgin olive oil does not always have to be very acidic. Actually, the best ones do not exceed 0°

Acidity should not be confused with flavor intensity because the mouthfeel of an oil can be very strong and have very little acidity, which can only be identified in a laboratory by analyzing the amount of free fatty acids in a sample.

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