OLeic Acid Content of Olive Oil

[Tom]

I have always wondered how much oleic acid is contained in olive oil. Then I read this section of an article and discovered something surprising. Maybe I was just ignorant, but I assumed incorrectly, that the higher quality the olive oil, the higher it's oleic acid content would be. Read for yourselves. And to think of all the CoQ-10 I could have bought with the savings from buying the cheap stuff...lol


Olive fruits are harvested in the winter and they can be picked while they are still green or allowed to ripen to a reddish or black color depending on the species. After the single large seed is removed, some olives are preserved in brine or oil for use as food. Far more olives are crushed and then separated into solid and liquid components. Solids are used for animal feed and the liquids are further extracted to separate the oil from watery components. Olive oil is graded primarily by the amount of oleic acid in it, as well as by its taste, color, and smell. In the United States, Grade A olive oil contains less than 1.4% fatty acid as measured by its content of oleic acid, Grade B has 1.4% to 2.5% oleic acid, Grade C has up to 3.0% oleic acid. Oils with more than 3% of oleic acid are not approved for human consumption in the United States. More often olive oil is classified as "extra-virgin" (up to 1% oleic acid), "virgin" (up to 2%), and "ordinary" (up to 3%). Olive oils labeled as "Light" or "Extra-Light" are lighter in color, but not in calories, than other oils.

I thought i read somewhere earlier that there was some reason to go for "higher quality" oils for the best results. I think it had something to do with the origin often of teh olives some desirable characteristic(oncologically) that cheaper olives didn't have. I wish I could remember where i read that.

Interesting.

Could you find out the overall composition including fatty acid breakdown from your source. If the fatty acid proportion is so low what is the rest of olive oil made up of.

The figure I have seen is approx 70% OF THE FATS are oleic. ( which begs the question what percentage of the oil is fats, what is the rest AND how does overall composition vary with quality.)

As usual it may be more complex.

I have seen report other factors are involved. I will see what I can find.

RB

[cmn]

I would stick to the cold pressed olive oils. I have always stayed away from refined oils and oils that are extracted with heat or solvents. According to this article light olive oil is refined. http://homecooking.about.com/library.../aa042897a.htm
I always feel confident about the olive oil I buy at the farmers market. Organic olive oil is great but a bit pricey. So far I like California, French, Italian, Greek, Lebanese and Morrocan olive oils. There are so many to try! Regards, Carol

[CLTann]

The numbers cited in Tom's message got to be wrong. Most oils contain triglycerides, or esters of glycerol. The acid portion forming the ester (which is the combined product from an alcohol and an acid) consists of fatty acids. No fatty acids are used for human consumption as major nutrients, only the esters, or oils, are used. Among oils, there are saturated, various unsaturated fatty acid components. These components are easily available in many articles. What Tom alluded to is perhaps the real fatty acid content, not the oil, in various grades of olive oil. These free fatty acids are indeed impurities. I am a research chemist with speciality in oils and fatty acids; therefore, I know what I am talking about. Indeed, the differences in fatty acid components make a great deal of difference in their physiochemical interaction with our body. Any fatty acids with no unsaturation (double bond in the molecule) are solid at room temperature, they are bad for the body because they will form solids in your veins, clogging up your heart. Omega 3 acids (with one unsaturation near the end of the fatty chain) triglycerides are proposed to be good for cancer prevention. I hope the above will help most of us to understand the fatty acid or oil issues. We never ingest fatty acids, only the oils, which are digested in our body system.


Ann

[Christine MH-UK]

http://www.oliveoilsource.com/olivechemistry.htm

"Oleic acid is monounsaturated and makes up 55-85% of olive oil"

Are eating green and black olives beneficial? Or is it something in the process of making it into oil that makes it more beneficial than just eating the olives? Laurie

[sassy]

I too have wondered about the benefit of eating either green or black olives? Does anyone have any information?


Sassy
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[Tom]

I know my last post was confusing, so here is the link to the source, while I look for further information on the subject of olive oil's make-up.


http://www.drugdigest.org/DD/DVH/Her...ve+Oil,00.html

[CLTann]

Please allow me to clarify this olive oil matter a little more. The main reason for recommending olive oil for us is its mono-unsaturated composition in oleic acid, which has been combined with glycerol to become an oil. After digestion in our body, the oleic acid is freed from the glycerol and energize our body, as all oils normally do. However, in other popular oils, there are more undesirable conjugated unsaturation in the structure. These popular oils, such as peanut oil, soybean oil and the like, though serve nutrition purpose adequately, do not help the regression of breast cancer cells. Since oils are a major food input for most of us, we believe it is more healthy to avoid those oils containing higher amount of conjugated unsaturation. By using olive oil, we are on the safer side. I personally don't believe olive oil itself will cure cancer, but it is less controversial. Continuing this train of thought, I don't believe eating green or black olive will give you any edge in fighting cancer. The oil content in the olive is very small and cannot be counted for as a source of oil in your overall diet. There is a difference in the omega 3 oil from the normal olive oil, which has its single unsaturation in the middle of the long chain carbons. (omega 3 has its unsaturation near the end of the long chain). This difference in position of unsaturation makes a significant difference in the physiochemical effect. Many cancer nutritionists believe the omega 3 oils, found in flaxseed and evening primrose as well as in fish oils, have interventional property toward suppressing cancer cell activities. I myself is using olive oil for cooking and take omega 3 soft gel capsules as supplements.

Ann

[Tom]

Thanks for your fascinating posts on the subject of olive oil. I give Mom olive oil as one of two sources of oleic acid. I also give her flaxseed oil, as I can at least count on the oleic acid content described on the bottle. I felt as if I was flying in the dark when trying to decide on an amount of olive oil sufficient to provide any therapeutic level of oleic acid for it's reported synergystic effect when used with Herceptin.

This is an abstract from Christine's link above shown below.

As to quality compared to oil I suppose it depends how they keep, the impact and content of the brine they are stored in, and where stored in oil the type and quality of oil they are kept in.

And how olives keep appear to be a whole other subject as a quick search revealed!

http://public.carnet.hr/ftbrfd/40-129.pdf

The chart from the above link which suggests significant degredation in 15 days acidity double, peroxides up, phenols down with storage which MIGHT be applicable to olives in brine or oil.

My guess based on the above would be fine as a treat, but as a primary source good quality virgin oil, dark bottles etc looks a better bet, particularly given all the unknowns.


RB



ABSTRACT


"Calories per olive: It depends on how big the olives are and what their oil content is. The large black canned olives are actually quite low in oil - sometimes only 7%, which is why they are table olives and are not used generally to make oil. Some smaller olives used primarily for oil making can have up to 35% oil content. Olives can range from 1 to 14 grams in weight.

There is about 1 tablespoon of olive oil (and about 120 calories) in:

20 medium Mission olives that have an oil content of 20%
40 small ripe black olives
20 jumbo ripe black olives
7 super colossal ripe black olives"