Extra virgin olive oil

Olive oil

Extra-virgin olive oil presented with green and black preserved table olives
Fat composition
Saturated fats
Total saturated	Palmitic acid: 13.0% Stearic acid: 1.5%
Unsaturated fats
Total unsaturated	> 85%
Monounsaturated	Oleic acid: 70.0% Palmitoleic acid: 0.3–3.5%
Polyunsaturated	Linoleic acid: 15.0% α-Linolenic acid: 0.5%
Properties
Food energy per 100 g (3.5 oz)	3,700 kJ (880 kcal)
Melting point	−6.0 °C (21.2 °F)
Boiling point	700 °C (1,292 °F)
Smoke point	190 °C (374 °F) (virgin) 210 °C (410 °F) (refined)
Solidity at 20 °C (68 °F)	1,000 °C (1,830 °F)
Specific gravity at 20 °C (68 °F)	0.911
Viscosity at 20 °C (68 °F)	84 cP
Refractive index	1.4677–1.4705 (virgin and refined) 1.4680–1.4707 (pomace)
Iodine value	75–94 (virgin and refined) 75–92 (pomace)
Acid value	maximum: 6.6 (refined and pomace) 0.8 (extra-virgin)
Saponification value	184–196 (virgin and refined) 182–193 (pomace)
Peroxide value	20 (virgin) 10 (refined and pomace)

Olive oil is a fat obtained from the olive (the fruit of Olea europaea; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. The oil is produced by pressing whole olives. It is commonly used in cooking, whether for frying or as a salad dressing. It is also used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps, and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps, and finds uses in some religions. It is associated with the Mediterranean diet popularized since the 1950s in North America for its possible health benefits. The olive is one of the three core food plants in Mediterranean cuisine, the other two being wheat and the grape.

Olive trees have been grown around the Mediterranean since the 8th millennium BC. Spain is by far the largest producer of olive oil, followed by Italy and Greece. Per capita consumption is however highest in Greece, followed by Spain, Italy, and Morocco. Consumption in North America and northern Europe is far less, but rising steadily.

The composition of olive oil varies with the cultivar, altitude, time of harvest and extraction process. It consists mainly of oleic acid (up to 83%), with smaller amounts of other fatty acids including linoleic acid (up to 21%) and palmitic acid (up to 20%). Extra-virgin olive oil is required to have no more than 0.8% free acidity and is considered to have the best flavor; it forms as much as 80% of total production in Greece and 65% in Italy, but far less in other countries.

The olive tree is native to the Mediterranean basin; wild olives were collected by Neolithic peoples as early as the 8th millennium BC. The wild olive tree originated in Asia Minor or in ancient Greece. It is not clear when and where olive trees were first domesticated: in Asia Minor, in the Levant, or somewhere in the Mesopotamian Fertile Crescent.