Extra virgin olive oil is the best choice when we talk about condiments. Thanks to its flavors, fragrances and the many healthy virtues, Tuscan extra virgin olive oil is famous worldwide. Extra virgin olive oil is the best friend for the heart, an anticancer and an ally of youth.

Properties of Tuscan extra virgin olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil was already known and used since ancient times and it’s one of the most important components of the Mediterranean Diet. There are a lot of clinical and epidemiological studies that highlight the nutritional qualities of this food, considered the best and the most suitable for human nutrition, among all the widely consumed edible fats.

A record that comes from a very simple truth: extra-virgin olive oil is the only oil to be produced only by squeezing the olives, without the help of chemical solvents or other industrial interventions, as happens instead with other vegetable oils or fats. Extra virgin olive oil has remained a genuine and natural product over the years. An olive juice that transfers all the precious substances contained in the raw material to the oil.

According to research by FDA (Food and Drug Administration), extra virgin olive oil contains a lot of healthy substances for the human body: for example monounsaturated fatty acids and oleic acid. Extra virgin olive oil is the only condiment that is inserted in the weaning of infants.

To distinguish the extra virgin oils from other oils is also the content of polyphenols, very particular antioxidants. Normally, in nature, the oil is  accumulated inside a seed: it happens for the hazelnut, soy, sunflower and so on. But for the olive, nature has thought of something new and very unusual: to concentrate the fat above all in the external part of the seed, in the pulp.

Extra virgin olive oil is a natural source of vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant that protects cell membranes from aging processes. For this property it is considered the vitamin of beauty and used by the cosmetic industry.

Some tips about extra virgin olive oil

The extra virgin olive oil should be used possibly raw. In that way it can maintain all its properties and flavours.

Also oil conservation has its importance: it must always be bottled in stainless steel or dark glass containers, away from light, air and heat. Try to consume it when it is fresh – aging does not help it but it deprives it of its fragrance, taste and above all of polyphenols, so important for your well-being.

Ancient olive trees

Do you know that olive trees can live for centuries? I went to visit the ancient olive trees of Torciano, a few kilometers from San Gimignano. The company has started a few years ago the initiative “Adopt an olive tree”. In addition to the certificate of adoption, Torciano sends you a bottle of the best Tuscan extra virgin olive oil, which you can enjoy at home.