**1. Introduction**

Regardless of the quantities harvested, the average percentage of virgin olive oil of the highest category (EVOO) in the three main producing countries, Spain, Italy, and Greece, is estimated at about 50% per year [EC Statistics, 1998]. The remainder has chemical or sensory defects that, depending on their intensity, must be classified as virgin olive oil (VOO), ordinary virgin olive oil (OVOO), or lampante virgin olive

oil (LVOO) according to EEC-Regulation 2568/91 or International Olive Council (IOC) Standard. Olive oil is one of the most controlled vegetable oils in the world. Nevertheless, the EU classified olive oil as one of the most adulterated food products, although it is subject to a number of EC regulations [1].

Olive oil is one of the few fruit oils, along with avocado oil and palm oil. Most vegetable oils known to us are seed oils. The olive fruit goes through many important steps on its way "from tree to bottle" that can affect its quality. The fruit itself belongs to a range of well over 500 different varieties. They differ in the size of the fruit, size and type of leaves, ripening, kernel/pulp ratio, amount of oil, unusual minor components, and among other things, especially in taste. Some varieties are used only as table olives, others for both purposes, but most are processed into oil. In the plantations, the olive trees are planted traditionally, intensively, and super intensively. The spacing between trees has decreased from 7.50 × 7.50 m (traditional) to 3.50 × 3.50 m (intensive) to trellis-like cultivation as in the case of wine (super intensive). The main reasons for this type of cultivation are an improvement in yield and the use of harvesting machinery. Harvesting is the most expensive part. The most important factor for a good-quality oil is the right time of harvesting or the optimal ripeness of the fruit. After harvesting, the quality of the fruit can only decrease, as fermentative degradation processes begin immediately after harvesting. Picking the olives by hand is often the only way to harvest the fruit, as the cultivated areas make it impossible to use harvesting machines. It is important that the fruit is not damaged during harvesting, and the waiting time before pressing or extraction in the decanter should not exceed 24–48 hours. Pressing requirements range from high quantities of olives in a correspondingly short time to achieving a particular quality—regardless of quantity with pressing temperatures or conditions during extraction in the decanter, high polyphenol content, and excellent aroma and flavor.

Ultimately, each of the above processing steps results in a wide range of different qualities in terms of aroma (smell and taste), complexity, nutritional composition, and oxidation stability.

When the oil is ready for marketing, each producer follows his own way of marketing. Depending on the size of the crop, some producers handle storage, bottling, labeling,

**Figure 1.** *80% of EVOO is sold as "private label" to supermarkets and discounter chains.*
