KEEPING YOU INFORMED ABOUT HEALTH & TASTE
Such information's help you the way you are recommended to consume olive oil as these are the little touches that make all the difference from health to taste.

BENEFITS OF OLIVE OIL TO HUMAN HEALTH

	The most digestible oil due to high content in Oleic Acid
	Essential for the nutrition due to high content of Linoleic Acid
	Most stable and resistant oil to oxidation
	Most effective in lowering LDL (Low Density Lipo proteins) cholesterol ratio of the blood, the type associated with heart disease.
	Most effective in increasing HDL (High Density Lipo proteins) the type that guards against artery blockage.
	Effective in maintaining beauty

	Olive oil composition is very similar to BREAST MILK Pregnant women are recommended to consume 2 spoons of oil everyday for easy digestion and the renovation of cells.
	Children are recommended to consume olive oil for the development of muscles and brain
	Old people are recommended to consume olive oil for stronger bone structure, prevention of calcium loss and to decrease cholesterol levels
	Olive oil is only oil extracted from fruit without any chemical process
	Olive oil is natural and rich in vitamins ; A, D, E, K "VITAMIN E " is very important in cellular protection and renovation in the human body.

 

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OLIVE OIL TASTING
After over 8000 years, most of us are used to the ritual, language and nuances of wine tasting, but many are unfamiliar with olive oil tasting and there are significant differences.

TASTING FOR TRADE CLASSIFICATION
At the outset it is necessary to understand how virgin olive oils are defined and classified under the International Olive Oil Council's regulations. The IOOC definition of virgin olive oils has three components:

1- The oil must be extracted from sound olive fruit by only the simple mechanical processes of milling, pressing and/or centrifuging - no chemical or excessive heat extraction is allowed though the actual temperature is not specified even though this can be an important determinant of quality.

2- The oil must meet a number of chemical tests aimed at detecting breakdown products or adulteration. The latter employ sophisticated chromatography in an attempt to maintain the distinction between virgin olive oil and the rapidly changing manipulated seed oils which can now be made to look very similar. The main traditional test for breakdown is the measurement of Free Fatty Acidity and this is still used as the criterion for dividing virgin oils into the quaint categories:

Extra Virgin	acidity less than 1%
Virgin	acidity less than 2%
Ordinary Virgin	acidity less than 3.3%

3- Another test is the Peroxide Value which measures the degree of oxidation or rancidity, and this may well become more important in the quality market.

In competition tasting of the best oils, a different interpretation of the attributes is used in the pursuit of excellence as the primary focus.

HOW TO TASTE
As with wine tasting the method of tasting is individual, but usually involves the following steps

	Warm the glass to 28 or 30 degrees C in the cupped hands, or on a hotplate, and taking a brief initial sniff to get an immediate first impression.
	Then a deeper smell to confirm, expand or negate that first impression.
	Then take in a teaspoonful, roll it around the mouth cavity and suck air in through your clenched teeth - go on, just do it, it's called "aspiration".
	Then you can swallow it or spit it out having noted the initial and middle palates, with the after palate sometimes quite delayed.
	Most effective in increasing HDL (High Density Lipo proteins) the type that guards against artery blockage.
	Effective in maintaining beauty

CLUES FOR TASTING:

	Taste The four tastes discernible by the tongue are bitter, sweet, salt and acid. There is no sugar in olive oil and its "sweetness" is in fact absence of expected bitterness. The "acidity" of olive oil is fatty acidity, not water-soluble mineral acidity, and cannot be tasted.
	Smell (aroma) The nose and pharynx detect all of the other "flavours". Taste and smell are really a combined total phenomenon. The first smell is the most important, and should detect the desirable Fruitiness and the most common defects (in Europe) of Winey, Fusty, and Rancid as well as Musty.
	Common chemical sensation This is carried by the nerve pathways from the walls of the mouth and throat and in this situation conveys Pungency.
	Physical sensation This is the "feel" of the oil, for example," viscous".
	Colour The colour tends to influence the taster's perception of the taste to follow and is therefore masked in trade tasting.