We are very close to the new harvest, and curiosity about this “liquid gold” also called extra virgin olive oil is high. So let’s find out what are the ways in which olives are harvested.
Olives are harvested manually or mechanically. When we talk about manual harvesting we contemplate the use of gentle tools such as combs and rakes. In semi-mechanized harvesting there is the use of mechanical facilitators such as automatic combs, and in fully mechanized harvesting there is the use of shaking machines. The shape of this implement resembles that of an inverted umbrella: the machine hugs the olive tree and shakes it abruptly to drop the olives inside the umbrella.
Clearly, the latter type of harvesting takes place on large farms, and the olive tree in the long run suffers from the strong vibrations used to detach the olives from the tree.
To date, the most widely used means of olive harvesting in Italy remains the automatic comb, which, thanks to the continuous flapping of its ends, causes the olives to fall to the ground on large nets that allow them to be easily harvested.
It is precisely in the transfer from the net to the boxes, which are strictly open to allow the fruit to breathe, that the farmer makes the first selection by discarding the olives of poor quality or with obvious defects. This is only the first skimming because another will be carried out as soon as the olives cross the door of the mill, which will shortly thereafter transform them into freshly pressed extra virgin olive oil.