`Greece's Early Harvest Olive Oils - Olive Oil Times
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Greece's Early Harvest Olive Oils

By Lisa Radinovsky
Oct. 14, 2015 10:20 UTC
Summary Summary

Early harĀ­vest extra virĀ­gin olive oils, which are more expenĀ­sive and harder to find due to being proĀ­duced from unripe olives, are gainĀ­ing popĀ­uĀ­larĀ­ity for their bitĀ­ter taste, low acidĀ­ity, and high antioxĀ­iĀ­dant conĀ­tent. The high polypheĀ­nol conĀ­tent in early harĀ­vest olive oils from Greece, such as those from Halkidiki, has been shown to have sigĀ­nifĀ­iĀ­cant health benĀ­eĀ­fits, leadĀ­ing to increased demand in forĀ­eign marĀ­kets and PDO staĀ­tus for some oils.

Early harĀ­vest extra virĀ­gin olive oils can be more expenĀ­sive and hard to find than other extra virĀ­gin oils since unripe olives proĀ­duce less oil and need to be picked right from the trees. Even so, more are findĀ­ing their bitĀ­ter taste, extra low acidĀ­ity, and higher antioxĀ­iĀ­dant conĀ­tent worth the money.

According to Agronews’ Alexander Bikas, early harĀ­vest olive oil costs at least one euro more than conĀ­venĀ­tional olive oil. Bikas wrote that the aucĀ­tions of the Agricultural Cooperative of the Holy Apostles in Laconia, Greece, which saw the sale of oils proĀ­duced from Athinoelia and Messinia Koroneiki olives this month to the Italian comĀ­pany Alta Marena for €4.60 per kiloĀ­gram, ā€‹ā€œrepĀ­reĀ­sent a baromĀ­eĀ­ter of olive oil prices in Greece,ā€ which leads him to expect Greekextra virĀ­gin olive oil proĀ­duced later in the seaĀ­son to go for around €3.60.

Bikas also noted that very limĀ­ited quanĀ­tiĀ­ties of olive oil were proĀ­duced from unripe fruit in Greece last year. However, he emphaĀ­sized that its high polypheĀ­nol conĀ­tent appeals to ā€‹ā€œdemandĀ­ing forĀ­eign marĀ­kets for both pharĀ­maĀ­ceuĀ­tiĀ­cal use and ā€‹ā€œthe gourmet restauĀ­rants of Italy, the USA and England.ā€

An authenĀ­tic early harĀ­vest olive oil needs very highly skilled peoĀ­ple and carĀ­ries the pasĀ­sion of those peoĀ­ple and the charĀ­acĀ­terĀ­isĀ­tics of the region- Emmanouil Karpadakis, Terra Creta

Argyris Bouras, owner of Eleones Hellenic Olive Products, told Olive Oil Times that he does not believe early harĀ­vest olive oils are popĀ­uĀ­lar in Greek stores, although Italians like to use early harĀ­vest Greek oils to ā€‹ā€œblend and upgrade low grade olive oils.ā€ On the other hand, many farmĀ­ers might simĀ­ply keep the first oil of the seaĀ­son for their own famĀ­ily and friends leavĀ­ing litĀ­tle availĀ­able for the marĀ­ketĀ­place.

Nevertheless, Agronews lists sevĀ­eral advanĀ­tages to pressĀ­ing unripe olives: gathĀ­erĀ­ing fruit early gives the trees a break that leads to high returns every year; harĀ­vestĀ­ing early reduces the chance of damĀ­age to olives from frost, hail and simĀ­iĀ­lar weather probĀ­lems, thus reducĀ­ing farmĀ­ers’ risks; and the excelĀ­lent nutriĀ­tional value of early harĀ­vest olive oil is acknowlĀ­edged worldĀ­wide, which makes it a ā€‹ā€œsuper-weaponā€ for olive oil farmĀ­ers and proĀ­ducĀ­ers.

The higher chloroĀ­phyll conĀ­tent in unripe olives makes the early harĀ­vest oil, called ā€‹ā€œagoureĀ­lioā€ in Greek, greener and richer in healthy polypheĀ­nols. According to the abstract of a recent study, ā€‹ā€œthere is a posĀ­iĀ­tive corĀ­reĀ­laĀ­tion of a high level of oleoĀ­canĀ­thal and oleaĀ­cein in olive oils with the early time of harĀ­vest.ā€

To proĀ­mote local agriĀ­culĀ­tural prodĀ­ucts, the Regional Unit of Halkidiki in northĀ­ern Greece comĀ­misĀ­sioned an analyĀ­sis of 32 samĀ­ples from the Halkidiki early olive oil harĀ­vest of 2014 – 15 by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Department of Pharmacognosy and Chemistry of Natural Products. The results of the study, which used the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) method develĀ­oped by Dr. Prokopios Magiatis, were said to prove the high nutriĀ­tional value of Halkidiki early harĀ­vest olive oil comĀ­pared with other Greek and forĀ­eign extra virĀ­gin olive oils, given its richĀ­ness in oleoĀ­canĀ­thal and oleaĀ­cein.

The averĀ­age polypheĀ­nol conĀ­tent in the samĀ­ples from Halkidiki was 495 mg/kg, comĀ­pared with an interĀ­naĀ­tional averĀ­age of 330 mg/kg. Yanni’s Limited PDO Halkidiki Early Harvest boasted the highĀ­est level: 1026 mg/kg.

Since 2013, some of the oil that meets the approĀ­priĀ­ate high qualĀ­ity and proĀ­ducĀ­tion requireĀ­ments, includĀ­ing milling by October 15, has been disĀ­tinĀ­guished by PDO staĀ­tus as ā€‹ā€œAgoureleo Chalkidikis.ā€ The polypheĀ­nols idenĀ­tiĀ­fied in the Halkidiki early harĀ­vest oils have been credĀ­ited with sigĀ­nifĀ­iĀ­cant anti-inflamĀ­maĀ­tory, antioxĀ­iĀ­dant, carĀ­dioĀ­proĀ­tecĀ­tive and neuĀ­roĀ­proĀ­tecĀ­tive propĀ­erĀ­ties.

Early harĀ­vest olive oils outĀ­side Halkidiki have also shown the high polypheĀ­nol conĀ­tent assoĀ­ciĀ­ated with health benĀ­eĀ­fits. For examĀ­ple, a test of the Governor brand’s unfilĀ­tereĀ­dexĀ­tra virĀ­gin olive oil using the NMR method showed ā€‹ā€œthe highĀ­est levĀ­els of pheĀ­noĀ­lic comĀ­pounds ever recorded in Greece,ā€ 1141 mg/kg, accordĀ­ing to the company’s webĀ­site. George Dafnis, co-owner of Olive Fabrica, which proĀ­duces this oil, told Olive Oil Times the early harĀ­vest of the Lianolia olives in Corfu begins in mid-October each year.

ā€œEarly harĀ­vestā€ can refer to difĀ­ferĀ­ent harĀ­vest times in difĀ­ferĀ­ent parts of Greece, given variĀ­aĀ­tions in cliĀ­mate, olive variĀ­ety, and eleĀ­vaĀ­tion. Argyris Bouras explained that the first olive oil of the year comes from Halkidiki, which is more famous for Greece’s largest table olives, the green Hondrolia. Eleones Early Harvest is proĀ­duced in limĀ­ited quanĀ­tiĀ­ties from olives handĀ­picked beginĀ­ning as early as mid-September, pressed the same day, and botĀ­tled in Halkidiki. According to Bouras, Eleones Early Harvest (acidĀ­ity 0.17) has a shelf life of up to 18 months, rather than the usual 9 – 10 months for many early harĀ­vest oils, because the high levĀ­els of antioxĀ­iĀ­dants of Halkidiki delay oxiĀ­daĀ­tion.

It is posĀ­siĀ­ble to find early harĀ­vest Greek extra virĀ­gin olive oils proĀ­duced as late as early November, such as Militsa Limited Release Early Harvestextra virĀ­gin olive oil or Esti Early Harvest, which won a Gold Award at the 2014 NYIOOC. These are both made from Koroneiki olives hand-harĀ­vested in the southĀ­ern Peloponnese.

However, mid October is a more comĀ­mon time for early harĀ­vest olive oil proĀ­ducĀ­tion in most of Greece. For examĀ­ple, the Olive Table’s Organic Early Harvest Single Estateextra virĀ­gin olive oil origĀ­iĀ­nates in famĀ­ily-owned Koroneiki olive groves in the mounĀ­tain vilĀ­lage of Christianoupolis in Messenia, slightly northĀ­west of Militsa, where the unripe olives are handĀ­picked startĀ­ing in the secĀ­ond or third week of October and crushed within hours of harĀ­vestĀ­ing.

Within the next few weeks, Terra Creta in Kolymvari, Crete will begin offerĀ­ing its first early harĀ­vest extra virĀ­gin, with just 4,000 botĀ­tles of spicyexĀ­tra virĀ­gin olive oil proĀ­duced from Koroneiki olives harĀ­vested in mid-October. Marketing Manager Emmanouil Karpadakis emphaĀ­sized that ā€‹ā€œa speĀ­cialĀ­ized group of proĀ­fesĀ­sional farmĀ­ersā€ with ā€‹ā€œsciĀ­enĀ­tific supĀ­portā€ will bring the olives to the mill only a few hours from harĀ­vestĀ­ing. ā€‹ā€œAn authenĀ­tic early harĀ­vest olive oil needs very highly skilled peoĀ­ple and carĀ­ries the pasĀ­sion of those peoĀ­ple and the charĀ­acĀ­terĀ­isĀ­tics of the region,ā€ he said.


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