What is early harvest olive oil?

Early harvest olive oil is pure fruit juice pressed on the very same day from olives picked while still green and purple-blushed, before full ripening. Compared with oil from ripe olives, it offers a much more vibrant fruity aroma, notes of freshly cut grass, and a healthy peppery finish.

1. Optimal Timing and a Sheltered Microclimate

In our 40-decare grove surrounded by red pine forests in Kemikler, Milas, our Memecik olives are harvested in October and November when antioxidant levels peak. The greatest benefit of early harvest is its polyphenol content — natural antioxidants that decline as the fruit darkens, but remain at their highest concentration while the olive is green.

2. Gentle Combing onto Clean White Harvest Cloths

During early harvest, olives must never be bruised or touch bare soil. Crisp white harvest cloths are spread beneath every tree as green Memecik olives are gently combed down, preventing oxidation from the very first moment.

3. Hand-Sorting in the Grove and Same-Day Cold Pressing

Freshly picked olives are hand-sorted right on the harvest cloths to remove twigs and leaves, then carried in ventilated crates straight to the mill. Cold pressing the olive paste without heat locks in both volatile aromas and nutritional value.

4. Quality Proven by Laboratory Analysis

In Dulivo’s laboratory analysis, free fatty acidity was measured at 0.23%, total biophenols at 493 mg/kg, and vitamin E at 287 mg/kg — a direct reflection of our early-harvest and cold-pressing discipline.