Loading... Please wait...

The Basics


  1. Olive Oil Chemistry Definitions and Standards
  2. Can I Cook With Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  3. Confusion About Fusion vs. Infusion
  4. What is Balsamic Vinegar
  5. Nutritional Information





Abingdon Olive Oil Facts


Becoming intimately familiar with a particular extra virgin olive oil’s flavor characteristics and chemistry i.e. antioxidant content, oleic acid, and FFA will help you make an educated decision about which olive oil is right for you.

Oleic Acid:  

  • The major monounsaturated fatty acid found in olive oil
  • Olive oil is generally higher in oleic acid than other vegetable fats
  • The range found in extra virgin olive oil is between 55-85%
  • A higher oleic acid monounsaturated fat content translates into increased durability and shelf-life because the oil has a greater resistance to oxidation 


  • Fatty acids are “free” when they are not bound to any other molecule.  FFA are formed by the breakdown of triacylglycerols during extraction
  • A low FFA is desirable
  • FFA speaks to the condition of the fruit at the time of the crush
  • The higher the FFA, the greater the indication of poor quality fruit such as damaged , overripe, insect infestation, overheating during production or too much delay between harvest and crush

Peroxide Value:  

  • Peroxides are the by-products of the oxidation
  • Peroxides are formed when the FFA in the oil is exposed to oxygen causing defective flavors and odors
  • A very low peroxide value is desirable 

Polyphenol Count:  

  • Phenols are healthful antioxidant substances found in olive oil which aid in slowing down the natural oxidative process
  • Phenolic content decreases over time or when exposed to heat and light, and is an indicator of freshness, with higher amounts improving shelf-life and oxidative stability

Diacylglycerols (DAGs):  

  • Diacylglycerols are formed as triacylglycerols breakdown
  • Fresh olive oil has a much higher proportion of 1,2-diacylglycerols to Total diacylglycerols
  • Elevated ratio of 1,3-diacylglycerols are an indication of olive oil extracted from poor quality fruit or of refined oil

Ultraviolet (UV) Light Absorption:  

  • K232, K270, ΔK are all UV Spectrophotometric  determination of rancidity in oil


  • During the degradation of olive oil, chlorophyll pigments breakdown to pheophytins and then to pyropheophytins
  • The ratio of the two is useful in distinguishing fresh olive oil from refined oil



“Is it OK to heat up extra virgin olive oil and cook with it?”  This is a complicated question.  Supermarket olive oil, labeled as “extra virgin olive oil”, which is not adulterated with refined oil, but is of a typical poor quality as a result of lax processing standards, age, UV light exposure, and poor handling tends to be highly oxidized and or rancid by the time the consumer purchases it.  Highly oxidized or rancid olive oil lacks the protective chemistry that would otherwise allow for abuse at higher temperatures before reaching the smoke point.

Fresh extra virgin olive oil of superior quality – boasting exceptional chemistry, i.e. high oleic acid content, very low FFA, and robust phenol count, can be heated to greater temperatures before reaching the smoke point, which is undesirable for any oil used in cooking.  So the answer is that the smoke point of an extra virgin olive oil will depend on its unique characteristics.  If you are looking to heat extra virgin olive oil up to 400+ degrees, pay close attention to the chemical make-up of the oil and choose one that is very fresh and chemically robust.  Studies which claim that all extra virgin olive oils have a smoke point of 300 F degrees, while ignoring variable factors such as chemistry and freshness, are simply not accurate.  The assumption can be made that such studies are conducted with a poor quality “extra virgin olive oil”, past prime, and lacking the chemical fortitude necessary for durability while cooking at higher temperatures.



There is  some confusion surrounding the terms fused and infused, which are the two different processes used to flavor extra virgin olive oils.

First, lets talk about “fused” olive oil or what is also referred to as “agrumato” in Italy.  Agrumato olive oil is made by crushing ripe, sound olives with whole, fresh fruits, herbs or vegetables at the time of crush.  In the winter, at our mill in Tunisia, citrus fruit is picked at the peak of ripeness, split in half and then thrown in with the olives.  The olives and fruit are then crushed simultaneously.  This process allows for the essential oils from the citrus peel to mingle with the oil from the olives.  By the way, ripe olives contain up to 20% oil but the majority of an olive is comprised of water.  The waste water from the citrus and olives are centrifuged away and the result is a bright, fresh, fused citrus olive oil.

More than 90% of the world’s fused or agrumato olive oil is made in the Northern Hemisphere.  Because agrumato is typically made from ripe olives at the end of the season, the window for crushing in the Northern Hemisphere is in the winter, usually between mid December and late January.  With few exceptions, many fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs are unavailable during these cold winter months.  More often than not, when one sees a product claiming that it is an agrumato chili oil or agrumato basil oil, the mill is either adding frozen or freeze dried product to the olives at the time of crush, or simply misrepresenting the process and actually infusing olive oil after the fact.

“Infusion” is the process of adding flavor to olive oil after it has been made.  For some, infusing olive oil is nothing more than attempt to cover up poor quality, defective, old oil.  The problem with this strategy is that regardless of what flavoring is added to poor quality olive oil to mask it, the rancidity, fustiness and other negative attributes will still be evident underneath.  Furthermore, synthetic chemicals and flavors are often implemented as flavoring agents because they are more cost effective than, say, essential oils, concentrates or extracts.  This “garbage in, garbage out” mentality is rampant in the industry where aesthetics and health take a backseat to the bottom line.

In the test kitchen, when formulating our infused extra virgin olive oils, we have a simple mandate to adhere to.  The infused extra virgin olive oils that we make will use the freshest extra virgin olive oils available in our collection that are most aesthetically compatible with the natural products we use to flavor them with.  This simple mandate requires that the chemistry, freshness and quality of our infused olive oil are second to none.  We are not in the business of flavoring a single oil from a single hemisphere.  We painstakingly move our infused collection to coincide with the fresh crush.  It is a labor of love that we hope you find evident in the flavor, freshness and quality of our products.


We refer to our dark balsamic as “Traditional Style Condimento, Aged Up to 18 Years”.  Our dark condimento is of the highest quality and is made in Modena, Italy from cooked, high quality caramelized grape must from Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes.  The grape must in our Condimento is cooked over an open wood fire, just as DOP Traditional Balsamic grape must is.  It is cooked down to the same consistency, density and dry solid extracts, actually.  DOP Traditional Balsamic dictates that wood-fire-cooked grape must is then put directly in to old, fired wood barrels which were used to age balsamic in years past.  These barrels become progressively smaller as the product becomes thicker and naturally evaporates over time.  The barrels as well as the product they once contained, add character to the must over time.  Nothing is ever added to the cooked, caramelized must of DOP balsamic.  Pro-biotic wild yeast and acetic bacteria colonize it and eventually raise the acidity. It slowly ages in this manner and turns in to “vinegar” by itself over the course of many years, hence the scarcity and price tag.






If you like us, talk about us!
Payment Methods