Olive Oil

Olive oil is a fruit oil — pressed from the flesh of Olea europaea — and the only widely used cooking fat extracted from fruit rather than seeds or animal tissue. Its distinctiveness comes from a high monounsaturated fatty acid content that makes it thermally stable, and from polyphenol compounds unique to olives that contribute bitterness, pungency, and significant antioxidant activity.

Flavor chemistry

Fresh extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) carries two separate flavor systems: volatile aromatics and polyphenols.