TUNISIAN OLIVE OIL

Harvesting and processing :
Harvest time usual starts around the beginning of November, in tends to be early, when the olives are richer in antioxidizers. There are many systems of harvesting: from picking the olives by hands (in Tuscany) to beating the olives down, or in Calabria and Puglia with the use of mechanical shakers. In some areas large nets are placed under the olive trees to catch the olives as they fall naturally from their branches and are then easily gathered. The establishment where the olives are processed is called an OIL-Mill.

Oil-Mill :
The olives harvested daily are brought here immediately. First they are washed. During this process foreign bodies such as leaves, sand, pebbles etc. are removed. Next the olives are squeezed. This process is done by a mill-stone. This is a large round granite slab over which two large stone wheels are rotated, producing a squeezing action and crushing the olives into a paste. The last phase is the cold pressing when the paste is placed on special discs made of coconut fibers with holes in the center. After these discs are piled up, they are placed under a press which is regulated at Max 250 ATM. The fluid which emerges from the sides of the discs is called crude virgin olive oil. This crude virgin olive oil is centrifuged and filtered to eliminate residual liquid before it is put into storage.