The extra virgin olive oil from Calabria region:: Production of Ottobratica variety, small size biotype, cultivated in Reggio Calabria province (Southern Italy)

Ottobratica of the Calabrian region is an autochthonous variety of Olea europaea L., ripening in October. Traditional Ottobratica variety cultivated in the Reggio Calabria province (Southern Italy) is a big plant with a large leafage. The large plant size of the traditional Ottobratica variety make very difficult the olive hand picking. In this paper, the olive oil from an Ottobratica variety (small size biotype) produced in the Reggio Calabria province was analyzed. The effect of the harvest period on olive oil composition was studied. Four samplings were conducted from October 8th, 2005 to November 19th, 2005 at biweekly intervals. Olive oil was extracted by means of a so called traditional-discontinuous plant with stone mill crusher and pressure of the olive paste.