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The legendary olive tree and the oil obtained from its fruit have accompanied the history of humanity.
8,000 years ago olive trees were already being grown in the Middle East and the first plantations were probably in Syria or in Crete.
The Phoenicians subsequently spread the growing of olive trees along all the coasts of the Mediterranean, of Africa and of Southern Europe.
With the Greeks, olive plantations became more and more numerous, but it was the Romans who tried to grow this versatile fruit in every newly-conquered territory (in some cases overlooking existing plantations in southern Italy).
In many cases the Romans ordered the vanquished populations to pay tributes in the form of olive oil.
It was also the Romans who were able to construct the first instruments for pressing olives and to develop techniques for keeping oil.
Right from the start the olive tree and its fruit have been present in the history of man, both in sacred rites and in everyday life.
Oil was used not only to enrich food but also for massaging and cosmetics.
In Homer’s poems oil is used exclusively for cleaning and personal hygiene.
The ancient Romans classified olive oil into five types: "oleum ex albis ulivis" from the pressing of green olives, "oleum viride" from olives picked at a more advanced stage of ripening, "oleum maturum" from ripe olives, "oleum caducum" from olives that had fallen onto the ground and "oleum cibarium" from semi-passito olives used in food for slaves.
Numerous tools for the picking and pressing of olives, unearthed at various archaeological sites in the Mediterranean, as well as several passages of the Bible and the Koran, demonstrate the historical importance of the fruit of the olive tree and man’s labour.
Even at the dawn of the third millennium olive oil represents a product that is laden with mysticism and especially an essential ingredient in the now renowned Mediterranean diet, a trend that many experts confirm as being beneficial for health.
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