Vegan diet conscious people are those who do not like to consume animal products either its fat, meat or flavor in processed items. For vegan diet, it is important that the oil in which the food is cooked or dressed must be from a plant source.
Luckily, extra virgin olive oilis vegan. It is obtained purely from plant source with no addition of any other ingredient. The name ‘extra virgin’ itself reflects the purity of oil from adulteration. While visiting restaurants or ordering food at home, you can even ask the order taker to cook your food in extra virgin olive oil, rather than in butter to ensure that there is no fat from animal source.
Vegan Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Extra virgin olive oil is vegan, this statement can be proved by having a slight look at its production, chemistry and specifications!
Production of Olive Oil
Picking
Olives fall on the ground when they are fully mature and ripe. To prevent direct contact with the ground, farmers try their best to adopt various methods, which ensures that the fruits do not get bruised. Once a fruit is bruised, the deterioration level and oxidation level speeds up and leaves negative impacts upon the olive oil’s quality.
For the above mentioned reasons, many olive oil bottles contain a label, ‘hand picked’, which shows the love and care with which these fruits are picked.
Grading
Olives are selected on the basis of color for pressing and storage. Olives with more golden color is the indicator of their full mature stage and they are sent to immediate pressing within the 10 to 15 hours of picking.
Green olives are also pressed, but as they are not fully mature so they can be stored for a while until all golden ones are pressed for oil extraction.
Pressing
After collection, olives are set for grinding with the help of stainless steel rollers. There rollers convert the fruit into a paste like material. Malaxation, a procedure in which water is gradually mixed into the paste so that the oil particles stick together and concentrate, is carried out followed by centrifugation.
Centrifugation separates the oil, paste and water on the basis of gravity and collects these all in separate chambers and voila! Here is your olive oil, pure and fresh without adulteration.
The extra virgin olive oil extraction must abide by the following steps to ensure that it is vegan, there is no adulteration and it falls under the ‘extra virgin section’:
- EVOO must not have any other oil addition, neither from fruit, nor from animal sources
- No chemical, solvent or heat must be used for olive oil extraction
- Olive oil extraction can undergo processes like washing, decantation, centrifugation, and filtration. Any other step that can alter the profile of this oil is not allowed, otherwise the oil will not remain extra virgin
- The temperature level must not exceed 80°F or 27°C
But, what makes this oil extra virgin and either it is healthy or not, is a confusing question for those who just come across the profile of this vegan oil.
Composition of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Now, Let’s have a look at its chemistry.
- Extra virgin olive oil is rich in fat soluble vitamins, vitamin k and vitamin E. Both these vitamins are present in 75% and 72%, respectively.
- Extra virgin olive oil contains 13.8% saturated and 73% mono- unsaturated fatty acids. Mono- unsaturated fatty acids are called as good fat or high density lipoproteins.
- EVOO also contains omega 3 and omega 6. These are very good for brain cell development and their health.
Specifications of EVOO
Specifications are the key guide of any compound which helps the person to choose the right one. Wherever on earth you go, visit or live, the basic standards, labels and specifications of extra virgin olive oil are same.
The main purpose of specifications is to set a criteria under which extra virgin olive oil must fall, otherwise it will be excluded from ‘extra virgin’ category. Some of these general specifications are:
- 0.8% is the limit of the free fatty acid content
- The peroxide level must not exceed 20 mili equivalent/ kg
- The ultraviolet light absorbing capacity must not exceed 0.22 for K20, 0.25 for K232 and 0.01 for Delta K
These all aspects reveal that extra virgin olive oil is without any doubt a vegan oil if it sticks to the above mentioned standards.
Last Words:
Certificated vegan olive oil?
All the extra virgin olive oils are vegan! But vegan not means the best quality. So please only buy the best quality if you want to care your food.
Extra virgin olive oil is a blessing. Not only for vegans, but for all the people on this planet. It is purely from plant source and has abundant of good fat and vitamins. It can help the ill people to recover from various heart diseases, depression, cancer, skin issues, diabetes type 2, Alzheimer’s disease. On the other hand, it can also help the healthy ones to stay healthy, by strengthening the bones, arteries, metabolic activities, brain cells and much more.
But, my advice is, only go for certificated extra virgen olive oil. You can find certified products at the online store of Spanish oil. We ensure that each and every product you get is pure, fresh and healthy which abides by the international standards.
Please make a quick visit and know by yourself.