I’ve encountered many farms on my journey that produce olive oil. But olive oil with medicinal properties, that’s a first.
(Please note that this text is translated by Open AI as I write my all my peas in Dutch)
I’m working at the organic & regenerative farm Monte Silveira this week. A lot is happening on this family farm of 700 hectares, more about that later, but they also produce very special olive oil here.
Now, all olive oil of good quality can generally be considered “healthy”. But there’s also a special category of olive oil that can claim health benefits. This is due to the presence of polyphenols, such as oleocanthal, which have anti-inflammatory effects. Olive oil with more than 250 mg/kg of polyphenols falls into this special category.
And the oil from Monte Silveira meets this criteria. Diogo Pinho, the soil health and microbiome specialist at the farm, explains to me that when olive trees experience slight stress, they produce more polyphenols. So these are often old, traditional orchards with relatively little water. Trees on modern, intensive plantations simply have it too good. It’s also important to harvest early. The longer you wait, the riper the olives become and the fewer polyphenols they contain. But a later harvest does yield a higher volume.
The extraction method is also crucial. Heat is detrimental to polyphenols, so the olives must only be cold-pressed. The variety of olives actually doesn’t matter for the amount of healthy compounds. But for the true enthusiasts: Monte Silveira uses a blend of Galega da Beira Baixa, Bical, Corduvil, and Cobrançosa olives.
And importantly… how does this oil taste? Wow! Spicy and peppery, perhaps something you need to get used to. The price is also quite spicy, by the way. But you have to make sacrifices for good health, right?
