Actual trends and improvements in olive oil extraction technology

Olive oil is one of the most important oils for human consumption due to its peculiar sensorial characteristics and its beneficial effects on human health. Starting from the Olea europaea fruits, the technological aspects of the whole extraction process may affect both the overall yield and quality of the recovered oil. Over the years in order to produce high quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) there have been several innovation and changes in the various technical phases (milling, malaxation, extraction) involved in the olive oil recovery. However, while the EVOO quality should be of the utmost importance, producers have also to face other complementary issues, such as the need for increasing extraction yields, improving the level of automatization and reducing the overall extraction costs, including the disposal of the generated by-products. In this paper the technological evolution related to the EVOO production is reported, taking into account the actual trends and innovations involving the extraction process.