Kneading olive paste from unripe ‘Picual’ fruits: I. Effect on oil process yield

Olive growers start earlier to harvesting in order to obtain high quality oils, however unripe olives show different characteristics affecting technological and rheological properties. This work is aimed to study the effect of malaxation conditions on process oil yield for unripe ‘Picual’ olives. Experiments were carried out using Picual fruits harvested at early dates for three consecutive crops seasons. The malaxation conditions assayed using a factorial design were: time (60, 90 min), temperature (18, 30, 40 °C) and micronised talc addition (0, 1%). Olive paste from unripe Picual fruit are classified as difficult pastes. The main factor affecting oil yield was the crop year, while for each crop year the effect of each factor varied considerably. Results indicated as increasing time and temperature gave lower pomace oil losses although its effect varied on crop year. Micronised Natural Talc addition lowered pomace oil content on dry weight. Therefore for early harvesting dates knowing olive characteristics ‘on line’ is essential to adapt the kneading conditions.