10 December 2013 - Over the past few months, CDR has carried out a study in cooperation with AIFO, the Italian Association of Olive Oil Mills, to find out how quality control of olive oil is performed at olive oil mills.
A short questionnaire was distributed in order to collect the opinions of olive oil millers and managers of olive oil production facilities concerning the oil analyses at the olive oil mill and the methods used to carry them out. The results are very interesting.
First of all, quality control of the oil directly at the olive oil mill is becoming increasingly common, both for batches of oil delivered to the olive oil mill and for batches of oil from private individuals.
About 60% of olive oil mills receive requests from private individuals to analyse the oil produced at the olive oil mill and almost all of them believe that it is important to be provided with an instrument that instantly analyses the olive oil.
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Olive oil mills are thus equipping themselves in order to satisfy both the needs of managing the oil in delivery and those of private individuals. They use instruments such as acidimeters, acidity test kits, graduated burettes. The most requested and carried out analyses are acidity, peroxides and polyphenols.
About one third of the participants use the CDR OxiTester analysis system, which combines speed of analysis, ease of use and accuracy of results. With the CDR OxiTester method, analyses are carried out directly at the olive oil mill, in a fast and instantaneous manner, by olive oil mill staff and with a small sample quantity. The alternative is to use approximate instruments or to rely on analysis laboratories external to the olive oil mill, or even to carry out the analyses both internally and externally.
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In conclusion, analysing the oil at the olive oil mill is a key activity for the proper management of oil batches and for quality control; it also provides a service that is particularly appreciated by the olive growers who come to the olive oil mill.