What is the best Apulian oil? The criteria for choosing it
With an extraordinarily large olive hub, Puglia represents the most virtuous region in terms of extra virgin olive oil production, managing to combine quantity with quality year after year. But the inscription on the label of "extra virgin olive oil" is not always a sign of quality. Let's find out what are the criteria for recognizing a quality extra virgin olive oil and why the Apulian one is the most appreciated on the national territory.
Extra virgin olive oil, what are the main characteristics?
Recognizing a good EVO oil cannot ignore the evaluation of its three main aspects: the visual one (i.e. the color and body of the oil as we see it with the naked eye), the olfactory one and naturally the taste one which will distinguish the various aromatic components and aftertastes.
But the main factors that indicate the quality of extra virgin olive oil are closely linked to the intrinsic characteristics of the territory from which it comes. The variety of olive cultivated , of course, but also the type of soil and the climate in which the olive tree grows .
All these factors strongly influence the nutritional quality of the oil, its sensory characteristics and even its conservation.
The high quantity of polyphenols , very important natural antioxidant molecules, can vary greatly from oil to oil - from 50 to 800 milligrams per liter - and greatly depends on the factors listed. Clearly the higher the value of the polyphenols, the more the oil represents a precious ally for our health.
The factors linked to the territory, soil and climate in which the olive trees grow, however, do not influence the quality of the polyphenols contained in the oil, but rather its aromatic and sensory characteristics . Like acidity , which however also depends on how the olive is transformed into oil.
![The quality control of the extra virgin olive oil in the Sannicola di Maldera1938 oil mill, which takes place through a series of analyzes carried out on the finished product.](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0596/5886/2731/files/DSC09199_1_copy_1024x1024.jpg?v=1671015165)
The quality control of the extra virgin olive oil in the Sannicola di Maldera1938 oil mill, which takes place through a series of analyzes carried out on the finished product.
Extra virgin olive oil, why is Puglia the best?
If the main qualitative characteristics of EVO oil are closely linked to the territory, it is because they depend a lot on the cultivar , or rather on the variety of olive used. Each cultivar has intrinsic characteristics that directly affect its value in terms of oleic acid, ratio between unsaturated and saturated fatty acids, polyphenols, resistance to microorganisms and insects, productivity.
If we look at the polyphenol parameter , the richest Italian cultivars are:
- Coratina (about 560 mg/kg)
- the mill (500 mg/kg)
- ogliarola (485 mg/kg)
- moraiolo (480 mg/kg)
- leccino (400 mg/kg)
- casaliva (390 mg/kg)
- peranzana (380 mg/kg)
- the nocellara del belice (340 mg/kg)
- the pendulum (305 mg/kg)
- Ligurian Taggiasca (300 mg/kg)
- biancolilla (300 mg/kg)
- itran (300 mg/kg)
As regards the frantoio, leccino, moraiolo and coratina cultivars , recent studies have shown that the quantity of polyphenols can even double if the production is carried out below 100 meters above sea level.
These precious varieties, in particular the coratina and the leccino , are produced more in Puglia than in other Italian regions. The reason is that the territory of this region is particularly favorable to their development : for this reason the experts, among all the oils present in Italy, sing the praises of the Apulian extra virgin olive oil, in particular the one produced from Coratina olives.
![Coratina variety olives freshly harvested in the PDO Terra di Bari, in particular in the Maldera1938 company in Corato.](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0596/5886/2731/files/DSC08953_1_1024x1024.jpg?v=1671012064)
Coratina variety olives freshly harvested in the PDO Terra di Bari, in particular in the Maldera1938 company in Corato.
EVO oil, where is it produced in Puglia and which cultivars?
As confirmed by the Ismea-Unaprol surveys , Puglia remains the first region for the production of extra virgin olive oil. Although in the last two years the meteorological events have not been particularly favorable for the harvest, so much so that in some areas the damages from drought have been more important than expected, the Region is still growing.
Suffice it to say that Puglia alone hosts about 50 million olive trees , distributed in five different areas : the Daunia , the Bari area , the Brindisi hills , the Otranto area and the Tarantine lands , areas which in turn are often divided into subzones.
Each of these areas is "specialized" in the production of one or more varieties of olives. The PDO Terra di Bari , for example, mainly produces the coratina cultivar, obtaining an oil with a slightly spicy and slightly bitter taste. In the Bitonto sub-area there is also the production of ogliarola which is used to produce a more fruity and balanced oil.
In the Dauno DOP in the north of Puglia, we find the ogliarola varieties, prevalent in Daunia and in the Gargano, but also the coratina , the rotondella and the peranzana towards the Alto Tavoliere delle Puglie area.
Further south, in the PDO Terre Tarantine and in the PDO Collina di Brindisi , the varieties used are the so-called Leccino olive, the Bari ogliarola and the Salento ogliarola .
The cellina di Nardò and the ogliarola salentina are instead the varieties used in the PDO Terra d'Otranto .
![A moment of the olive harvest in the Maldera1938 farm in Corato, in the DOP Terra di Bari.](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0596/5886/2731/files/DSC08957_1_1024x1024.jpg?v=1671014531)
A moment of the olive harvest in the Maldera1938 farm in Corato, in the DOP Terra di Bari.
Coratina monocultivar EVO oil, because it is good for health
The Maldera family oil mill was born in Corato , in Puglia, almost 80 years ago: an area which, as you can easily imagine, is particularly suited to the production of Coratina olives .
This variety is therefore the most used in the production of Maldera1938 branded oil , precisely because it is particularly rich in polyphenols and very valuable from a nutritional and organoleptic point of view.
The Coratina monocultivar EVO oil from the Maldera1938 range , in fact, is obtained through a cold extraction method and is not filtered, so it contains a very high concentration of polyphenols , about 300% more than other varieties.
A very high value accompanied by a very low percentage of acidity (less than 0.2%), which gives the oil a rather bitter and spicy taste, typical of the Coratina variety. Among the polyphenols present, among other things, there is a high quantity of oleuropein , the polyphenol responsible for the bitter aftertaste of the oil.
A real mine of antioxidants, which in addition to counteracting cellular aging , is also the ideal condiment for the dishes of our Mediterranean diet.