Why do we collect our olives at night?
15-10-2020. Events.
Night harvesting or collecting is standard practice in the production of green or early-harvest olives. But do you know why this is done?
If you are not very familiar with gourmet or top quality oils you may never have heard that their olives are gathered at night. The practice gives obvious benefits in the production of Fuenquesada, our picual extra virgin olive oil.
Benefits of harvesting olives at night
- Stable temperature of the olives which is ideal for cold extraction. In order to produce green or early-harvest olives, these must be collected in October and November. In autumn the daytime temperatures are generally still high, owing to which night harvesting is the best way of preventing the heat from harming the fruit and of having it arrive for extraction at the best temperature.
- Fermentation is reduced. Heat is one of the worst influences on the taste of top quality extra virgin olive oil. The colder night temperatures and the short duration of mechanised harvesting allow the fruit to reach the grinding stage in optimum condition. This will prevent the appearance of undesirable tastes or colours which would surely be detected during a professional tasting session.
- Organoleptic properties intact. Young olives have very high levels of plant water and sugar which accelerate fermentation. It is for this reason that it is crucial to do this in order to produce this type of oil. They also contain lower levels of fat and a high percentage of polyphenols which are highly beneficial to health. Moreover, they allow improved preservation of the large number of antioxidants and fruity perceptions so as to make the taste much more intense.
For all these reasons night collection is essential in the production of green oil, the most prestigious of gourmet oils. This oil has an intense green colour as it is made exclusively from green olives just before the envero begins (when the olive changes from green to violet tones) and also an exceptional taste.
Fuenquesada is a top quality extra virgin olive oil. The olives used are exclusively young ones of the picual variety which are collected only at night. What are you waiting for to find out that night harvesting is very worthwhile?
