What Is Acidity?
Acidity is the most basic criterion of olive oil evaluation and it is this which determines its commercial value. The degree of acidity determines the contents of the oleic acid of the product. The way of harvesting, storage and crushing may greatly influence the final acidity of the oil.
The acidity is expressed in grams of free oleic acid per 100 gr. of oil and determines the degree of acidity of the oil.
The acidity of the olive oil is that which determines:- how edible it is (acidity up to 2gr.) and
- Virgin olive oil lampante (acidity greater than 2gr.)
ATTENTION
Acidity is one thing, but…oxidization is something else.
Oxidization is a natural alteration which takes place when a natural product comes into contact with oxygen. Oxidization destroys the natural smell and taste of olive oil. Light and oxygen are the main causes along with other factors such as harvesting, storage of the olives which speed up the oxidation. The taste of the olive oil deteriorates, becomes unpleasant, smells like soil and the quality drops dramatically.