The quality of olive oil depends on several factors, such as the olive variety, the cultivation practices, the climatic and soil conditions, the practices of pressing the olive fruit, and the procedures until its bottling.

The French term 'terroir' refers to the intricate interplay of all factors influencing olive oil quality. Gaining insight into the specific impact of each factor contributes to the production of extra virgin olive oil from raw materials with high nutritional value and scientifically documented bioactivity.

MOLON LAVE, innovating in the field of olive oil, implemented quality terroir in its olive groves, an experimental process of evaluating multiple samples from different olive varieties in collaboration with FoodOxys PC spin-off.

	DURATION 1 year
	OLIVE VARIETIES Koroneiki / Athinolia
	IRRIGATION CONDITIONS Irrigated / Dry
	ALTITUDINAL CONDITIONS Low / High altitude

THE PROCESS

FoodOxys applied a holistic approach, scientifically proven, to assess the capacity of the samples:

	to scavenge free radicals
	to protect DNA from severe oxidative damage
	to exert effects on the antioxidant system of human cells (endothelial, hepatic, gastric), cultured under controlled laboratory conditions

THE RESULTS

The samples from MOLON LAVE olive groves
with the Athinolia olive variety
show stronger antioxidant
activity and bioactivity
than the samples from
the olive groves with
the Koroneiki variety.