Olive oil is similar to wine: richness in aromas, diversity of grape varieties and terroirs. However, there is one point on which these two products differ: conservation. While some bottles of wine improve with time, olive oil loses its quality.
To help you understand, here is a short guide on the preservation of olive oil. We explain what the threats are, how to protect yourself against them, and how Occhiolino has come up with an ideal concept to preserve the quality of olive oil.
There are three of them: light, heat and oxygen. Light causes a decrease in the antioxidants that can be found in the olive oil and accelerates the rancidity. Heat increases the content of free fatty acids and modifies the compounds that give the good aromas. Finally, contact with oxygen causes the olive oil to oxidize and lose its sensory properties.
Olive oil in a clear glass bottle on the windowsill on a summer day is the worst thing you can do to preserve olive oil.
Ideally, it is a small 250 ml or 500 ml container (so that as soon as the bottle is opened, the oil does not remain exposed to the air for months) to be stored in a cupboard (so that the bottle is protected from the rays of light) in a room at room temperature (never above 25°C).
After opening, it is best to consume the oil within 3 to 6 months. Know that olive oil does not expire, it just loses its nutritional and sensory qualities.
Below 12°C, the olive oil freezes, which is no big deal.
Occhiolino is available in 2 containers that are ideal for storage: a small 250 ml bottle and a 3L bag-in-box (BIB). The concept is to use them together: fill the small bottle with the BIB, so the oil in the bottle is always fresh. To learn more about the bag-in-box, a previous article tells you everything here.
Sources:
Butler, J. (2012, May). How heat, light and oxygen harm olive oil. Olive Oil Times. https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/fr/world/heat-light-oxygen-harm-olive-oil/26626#:~:text=The%20%C3%A0%20exposure%20lumi%C3%A8re,the%20color%20of%20an%20oil
Dubois, P. (2020, June). Preserving olive oil the right way. Chercheurs d'or vert.fr. Retrieved June 16, 2020, from https://www.chercheursdorvert.fr/post/conserver-son-huile-d-olive-dans-les-r%C3%A8gles-de-l-art