The Olive

Why does the olive produce oil, while other fruit trees do not?

From the point of view of a tree, of course, fruit is simply a food source for the seed inside. When a peach, or cherry, or lemon falls to the ground, the decaying fruit releases usable sugars for the germinating seed. The olive, however, tends to fall on less favorable, stonier ground than peaches and cherries and lemons. To compensate for this disadvantage, the olive has evolved a superior food source: the oil formed within the fruit is twice as efficient as sugar.

But oil needs to be protected. Oil is a fragile thing, and elements within the fruit would break it down, were it not for some very potent anti-oxidants present inside the fruit. These anti-oxidants, called polyphenols, not only keep the oil pure, but could, consumed within olive oil, potentially provide humans with powerful agents against cardio-vascular disorders and cancer.

But there comes a moment when the needs of the plant diverge from those of the human consumer. As long as the fruit is on the tree, the oil is kept in a state of pristine essence. But for the seed within the fruit to receive nourishment from this oil and begin the process of growth, the oil must be broken down as quickly as possible. Nature has endowed the olive with very powerful enzymes. The instant the olive hits the ground, oxygen rushes into the fruit and releases these enzymes, which in turn begin to break down the oil. This is good for the fruit, but it has, up to now, been very bad news for millers of olive oil.

In the hour or so it takes to press the olive into oil, the various processes of crushing, mixing, spinning, pressing create a tremendous amount of oxygenation. This in turn drives the enzymes into a frenzy of activity. Even the best-made oil, by the end of this process, has lost at least half of its original polyphenol content. This results in: