Reserve Olive Pressing Times

Olive Pressing season is coming up.  If you use a public mill, try to anticipate your harvest time to schedule your pressing.  Every year local presses get frantic calls from novice olive farmers who have picked their olives and need a place to take them.  Many presses are booked solid. Don't assume you can just show up with your olives.  See Public Olive Mills for a listing of US mills with contact information.  Following is the latest information from some of the presses listed.

Anderson Ranch, Dilley TX is currently  pressing. Call David at 830-378-5511 and leave a message. They require a 200 lb minimum for their small Italian toothed mill with centrifugal decanter

Figueroa Farms, Santa Ynez CA will start taking public fruit November 1, with 1 week advance notice, 1 ton minimum. They will take names for smaller amounts and try to combine similar fruit to reach the minimum.  Owners Antoinette and Shawn Addison hopes to offer a community pressing for those with very small amounts of olives. Call 805-686-4890 or email    Pieralisi double grind mill with centrifugal decanters.

Frantoio, Mill Valley CA  Frantoio starts taking fruit October 15.  They charge $100/hr with a $250 minimum charge.  At a typical throughput of 400 kg/hr the minimum comes out to about 1/2 ton.  They request a 2 week advance notice. Contact Roberto at  415-298-5777 to arrange pressing  Granite stone mill with hydraulic press.

McEvoy Ranch, Petaluma,CA. Certified Organic Mill will be open October 27. No minimum for Stone Mill – Minimum Charge of $300 or $450/ton. 2 Ton minimum for Blade mill - $400/ton. Combination day for small quantities of Tuscan fruit only is Nov. 22. Call in advance for scheduling info and contract. Shari DeJoseph 707 769 4100. Granite stone mill or blade mill, sinolea or decanter separation

Nick Sciabica & Sons, Modesto CA will start accepting fruit on November 10th with a 10 day advance notice.  Email Nick at  including your phone number and projected tonnage, varieties, etc. for a return call and quote. Pieralisi double grind mill with centrifugal decanters.

Stonehouse/Calio Groves, Corning CA taking fruit with 10 day advance notice.  Call Bob at 530-824-2229 to arrange a press date.  They have a 4 ton minimum and charge $250/ton  or  will crush for 50% of your oil. Fruit should be in 1/2 ton orchard bins. Alfa Laval mill with centrifugal decanters

The Olive Press, Glen Ellen CA For the first ton or less (800 lb. minimum) there will be a minimum charge of $400; tonnage over 2,000 lbs. will be prorated. Certified Organic will be charged an additional $30.00 / ton. : Call 707-939-3711 to schedule 2-3 week advance appointments.  Please be ready to give a credit card # to secure a press date. Peiralisi mill with centrifugal decanters

Most mills can supply clean containers for your oil but some prefer that you bring your own.  Appropriate containers would be 55 gallon plastic or stainless drums for large quantities or 5 gallon plastic head packs, or stainless fustis for smaller amounts.  Oil benefits from settling before bottling.  Conical bottom stainless tanks which have a floating lid to keep out air are ideal for settling and long term storage - see new products below.

Olive variety and picking time are the biggest determinant of oil flavor.  Fruit which has been picked from the ground or which has been infested by the olive fly will produce an inferior oil.  Click for more on flavor determinants

Mill type and operation does have a minor effect on oil taste.  Stone mills are popular for their "old world" charm and some claim they offer smoother, "rounder" flavor notes. Most newer mills use toothed grinders or hammermills and the majority of the prize winning oils at this year's Los Angeles County Fair competition were produced on such mills.  This year Pieralisi has introduced a double grind mill which prevents heating and creation of an emulsion.

Most mills use centrifugal decanters for the separation of the oil from the olive pulp and water. Frantoio and Oil of Joy offer the older style Hydraulic pressing for those who prefer this method.   Click for more information on olive pressing with pros and cons on different methods.

Olive Fly Update

There has been good and bad news about the olive fly.  High temperatures in inland valleys and the Central Valley has spared many olive groves.  Over 100 degree temperatures decreases the activity of adult flies and kills eggs and developing pupae.  Olives being delivered to canneries have minimal fly damage.

Coastal areas have been hard hit.  A Fremont test site for Spinosa for several years has suffered intense infestation despite repeated applications.  Last year ornamental trees in the Southern San Francisco Bay Area had attack rates of 200-300% (2-3 eggs laid per olive).  This year similar insect activity has been seen in the North Bay to Marin county. Growers in Sonoma and Napa report major activity for the first time.

Squalene in Olive Oil
by Dr. John Deane

A reader asks about squalene - a chemical in olive oil. He is an herbalist who is trying to make products for the treatment of psoriasis. He has heard that squalene can reduce the inflammation of psoriasis and that the two main sources of squalene are shark oil and olive oil. The shark product can smell of shark so he is interested in a source of squalene derived from olive oil.

Isn't olive oil an amazing product that it can incidentally contain a product which can treat a terrible human skin condition? Actually it isn't such an accident, it is an artifact of the age old war between plants and animals. Trees have very large genomes and are capable of cranking out thousands of different chemicals, far more than a human. Trees became chemical factories throughout evolution to protect themselves from herbivorous animals, fungi and bacteria. It has been estimated that up to 40% of the dry weight of most plants is toxic chemicals created to deter herbivores. After all, these tress can't exactly run away from their tormentors.

Olive trees create squalene, which is a precursor of other sterols, and many other sterol type chemicals. In animals these chemicals are hormones which signal sexual differentiation, pupation, and other developmental stages. In the biological warfare between plants and animals, toxins are not as effective as hormones which prevent normal insect development. After all, an insect can evolve a new enzyme to break down a toxin but it would be difficult for it to break down or ignore its own sex or developmental hormone and get to the next stage of its life cycle.

In humans, the sterols include the "cortisone" type substances, many of which have anti-inflammatory actions. Psoriasis is an auto-immune disease. The body gets confused and attacks certain body structures, thinking they are foe instead of friend. Anti-inflammatory medications are a mainstay of treatment. They can be given orally or spread on the skin.

But does squalene really help psoriasis? While thousands of websites and nutraceutical vendors claim that a variety of fats and oils will "promote skin health", I was unable to find any hard evidence in the form of double blinded scientific studies which can prove or disprove this treatment. An excellent website which helps sort through the medical misinformation found on the web is http://www.cochrane.org. "It is an international organization that aims to help people make well informed decisions about health care by preparing, maintaining and ensuring the accessibility of systematic reviews of the effects of health care interventions."

Olive Oil contains the largest percentage of squalene among the common vegetable oils. For instance, olive oil has 136-708 mg/100g of squalene compared to 19-36 for corn oil (Gutfinger and Letan). Squalene would be found in fresh extra virgin olive oil. Olive oil which is rancid or has unacceptable flavors is deodorized using distillation. The resultant oil is called "Pure" or "Refined" olive oil. Squalene is removed during the refining process and is concentrated in the distillate. According to Bondioli et al, squalene can be recovered in yields of up to 90% from the distillate using a supercritical carbon dioxide process. The squalene is sold to the cosmetics industry as an emollient or moisturizer and to the nutraceutical industry.

In Europe and North Africa, a good portion of the olive oil ends up getting refined. They have large chemical facilities to handle this so there is a squalene industry there. Here in California, most of the oil made is sold as extra virgin and we don't really have a large refining capacity, so I don't know that the reader will find squalene being made here. Its not that we're throwing it away, we just don't remove it from the olive oil in the first place.

Bondioli, P. Squalene recovery from olive oil deodorizer distillates, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc 70:763 (1993)
Gutfinger and Letan. Studies of unsaponifiables in several vegetable oils. Lipids magazine 9:658 (1974).

Carmel Tomatofest Report

The 12th annual Carmel Valley Tomatofest's International Olive Oil Pavilion was a big success. Olive oil educators Michael and Valarie Coon, who lead gastronomic tours around the world and are also food sales and marketing consultants based in Napa, assisted Strictly Olive Oil's Betty Pustarfi. The help was sorely needed, as over 2000 attended the event. There were four sides to the pavilion, and the three did a lot of pirouetting directing attendees to different "countries" and different oil characteristics

Valarie and Michael Coon at the International Olive Oil Pavilion - Carmel Valley Tomatofest pictures courtesy Betty Pustarfi

"We were impressed with both the sophistication and high level of interest expressed by tasters of the international oils", related Michael. "Participants were genuinely interested in taking a tour around the world to discover the nuances of each countries' oil and how their unique characteristics could best be used to create savory dishes at home." "Tuscany was a favorite with its peppery bite, but the spicy Sicilian oil was a close second. France won over the smooth, sophisticated palates and those preferring a more robust, "mouthful" style chose the seldom tasted oil from New Zealand. Rounding out the top three, the olive taste of the Moroccan oil seemed to garner the most votes."

On her side of the pavilion, Betty Pustarfi reported that the winner in the satiny, lingering, delicate category was the Ligurian entry. The complex veggie category was dominated by Umbria. And the "rich and buttery" throne was claimed by Spain. She found that Morgenster's from South Africa challenged the peppery arena, probably because the cultivars were imported from Tuscany. Sardinia's entry was "best overall" according to visitors. All the entries were highly regarded.  More specific product information can be obtained by contacting Betty Pustarfi at strictlybetty@aol.com

Michael and Valarie Coon can be reached at The Inside Route
 

The Olive Oil Source is importing a clever hand picker which looks like two windshield wipers in opposition.  Instead of rubber wipers on the  edges they have rollers which strip the olives off the branches. Several test sites report excellent results.