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<pre>----- Original Message -----
From: digbar@juno.com

>Extra virgin olive is oil from the first pressing or squeezing of the
>olive.

This is true from the old style vertical hydraulic presses. New machines
work with centrifuges to separate the liquid (oil and vegetable water)from
the solid.

>In most large refineries, the olives are crushed to separate them
>from the seeds.

Refineries are only used to extract the leftover oil from the pomace and to
bring its acidity level to zero. Pomace is the solid (flesh and pit)
leftover from the mechanical separation using the press or the centrifuge.

>The seeds are discarded, and the olive are put in a
>centrifuge to separate out the oil.

Actually the centrifuge does the separation. It is fed with crushed olives
with some extra regular water added to the mix.

>Not all of the oil comes out the first time in the centrifuge, but what
>oil does come out is "extra virgin".

93-97% of the oil should come out the first and only time from the
centrifuge. What is left over is economically and mechanically not feasible
to get out with the centrifuge. The pomace is sent to the refineries to get
out whatever is left over. It is noted that the traditional hydraulic
presses leave about 10-15% of the oil in the pomace as compared to 3-7% with
the centrifuge system.

Regards
Jamal Sadoun
</pre>
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