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.