Extra Virgin Olive Oils (EVOO) is the least- processed, most rich-tasting olive oil. Quality cold-pressed EVOO should have an acidity level of 0.8% or less, the lower the acidity levels, the higher the quality. Good EVOO is also rich in polyphenols, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Generally speaking, extra virgin olive oil with polyphenol levels above 220 is considered a high-polyphenol EVOO.
Fused Olive Oil
In Italy, fused oils are known as “Agrumato oils”. Fused oils offer a combination of flavors in the truest sense and are created by crushing ripe olives along with their flavor counterpart. This is called the Agrumato Method. To create “fused oil”, makers mechanically press the ripe olives along with the produce. Whole ripe olives along with the fresh produce of choice are manufactured simultaneously. Their oils combine during mixing which fuses them together. This results in an intense flavor; More of the actual produce is still within the product.
Examples of plants that can contribute are chilies, herbs, or citrus fruits. The extraction of these oils married with that of ripe olives yields a product with a rich, intense flavor profile. Lemon fused olive oil, for example, can be used when baking sweets like biscotti, cake, granola, and cookies.
Infused Olive Oil
In the purest sense, an “infusion” involves a solvent — such as alcohol, oil, or water. Here, we’re using olive oil. The infusion of the other flavors occurs after pressing occurs.
Once the oil is extracted from the olives and made into olive oil, then essential oils from a fruit, vegetable, herb, or plant are blended in. Makers use fresh extra-virgin olive oil and infuse it with essential oils and other botanical extracts of herbs and/or other products after it’s been pressed. Infusion is a much more relaxed process because makers can infuse olive oil at any time. In fact, you can even do it yourself at home.
Infused olive oil is great for making beauty products such as lotions, creams, and other scented products like perfumes. This is a wonderful ingredient for bath scrubs or soaps as well.
There are many health benefits, each unique to the ingredients used. The longer the ingredients sit in the container together, the stronger the infusion.
