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Olive oil has an extremely ancient origin. Its history has diverse origins, seeped in truth and legend. In Egypt it was introduced as a gift from the Goddess Isis, in Greece, Minerva made the first olive plant spring from the earth. Over the centuries the olive has always been a symbol of peace, prosperity and purification.
Side by side with this symbolism the role of olive oil on man’s health has also been recognised. Olive oil has beneficial effects on various pathologies such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, cancer, obesity and diabetes.
In the last few years much research has been undertaken on the positive correlation between the Mediterranean diet and the low incidence of cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancer (breast, prostate, intestinal and skin).

A fundamental and typical element of the Mediterranean diet is a vegetable fat, in liquid form at ambient temperature, but only extra virgin olive oil has the necessary characteristics for maintaining a healthy body.

All this is because of the particular composition of extra virgin olive oil that in short can be described as composed of two parts:

- the “fat” fraction of the oil (Triglyceride or saponifiable fraction)
Has the particularity of containing substances that are fats by their chemical definition, that have the particularity, once ingested, of assisting the transport of cholesterol from the interior of the cell to the exterior thereby averting excessive accumulation that is the basis for the onset of arteriosclerosis.
It is generally maintained that regular consumption of extra virgin olive oil increases this beneficial transport giving rise to the term “sweeper of the arteries” due to the increase of HDL (high density lipoproteins) in the blood.

- the “non-fatty” fraction of extra virgin oil (non-saponifiable fraction)
Is represented by many other substances with the primary purpose of protecting from oxidation, hence the term antioxidants, i.e. from the effect that oxygen in the atmosphere has on the oil.
The saying “old wine, new oil” is just to explain that with the passage of time oil, as opposed to wine, loses its characteristics until it eventually loses it special beneficial properties. This is because oxygen gradually destroys the substances that protect the oil – the antioxidants ( vitamins and the biophenols of extra virgin oil ) – and then attacks the molecules in the “fat fraction” causing them to decay; that’s why oil must be stored correctly!

In the last few years studies have shown how antioxidants not only protect the oil but also have an important effect on the human body, proving effective in keeping it “young”.