Filtered or unfiltered EVO oil?

So what to choose?

Should extra virgin olive oil be filtered? For many years now, this theme has divided oils EVO lovers. More and more often we notice "unfiltered" EVO oils, oils that surely convey a greater idea (stereotyped) of naturalness and craftsmanship. So what to choose? Filtered or unfiltered oil?

As you know, the oil is obtained from the pressing of the olives. We thus obtain a product consisting of two different parts: a solid one (kernels and pulp) and a liquid one, made up of oil and water. To separate these two parts, mechanical centrifuges are used.

Once the two parts are separated, small particles of olive oil and water still remain in the EVO oil. To obtain a filtered oil, special filters are used consisting of different layers that retain the olive and water particles without altering the chemical and organoleptic characteristics of the oil in any way.

So what is the difference?

So what is the difference between filtered or unfiltered extra virgin olive oil? Quality does not matter here. Filtered or unfiltered, EVO oil is good if obtained from excellent raw materials, the problem occurs on storage times.

If for a filtered EVO oil, light, oxygen and heat are the biggest enemies, another is added to the unfiltered: the sludge, the small particles of olive and water left which over time tend to settle on the bottom, decomposing over time (the deposit is called sludge).

The scientific study

This is why there is a risk that an unfiltered EVO oil will be preserved for much less time and its organoleptic properties will be reduced. For this reason too, the scientific results presented at the conference "Filtration: Increasing the Life of an Oil (IVO)" held at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Florence, demonstrate how Extra Virgin Olive Oil must be filtered the first possible. The results of a 2-year experiment show that filtration does not cause a decrease in the nutritional characteristics of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and maintains a hint of greater freshness of freshly picked olive over time. In addition to this important data, it has been highlighted that unfiltered extra virgin olive oil would present problems related to acidity during storage due to the presence of water.

For this reason, our Aroldo EVO oil is always filtered, so you can have the security of a product that lasts over time and that keeps all its precious qualities intact.