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IELTS reading passage – Olive oil production
Olive Oil Production
A. For thousands of years, olive oil has been a mainstay of the Mediterranean diet, and its ubiquity is expanding quickly throughout the rest of the world. It is one of the most adaptable cooking oils and improves the flavor of a variety of foods. Only olive oil can be produced by simple pressing of any vegetable or fruit. The majority of other common oils (corn, canola, etc.) need to undergo further processing in order to yield oil. The health advantages of olive oil are a significant additional benefit.. Extra Virgin, Virgin, and Olive Oil are the three most common types of olive oil among consumers.Olive oil varies from one country or location to another in addition to the fundamental classes due of the varieties of olives that are farmed, the harvesting procedures, the time of the harvest, and the pressing methods. All of these aspects influence the distinctive qualities of the olive oil.
B. Care must be taken when working with olive trees if you want to have decent yields. Regular irrigation, pruning, fertilizing, and insect control are all part of care. Olives can grow in very shallow soils and poor locations, but they will develop slowly and produce little. Deep soils often result in trees that are overly robust and yield less. Clay loam soil with good internal and surface drainage is the best environment for the production of olive oil. To grow big crops and prevent alternate bearing, irrigation is required. Hard winter frosts must not exist at the site since they induce wood damage at temperatures below 15°F and can completely obliterate any hope of a successful crop. Due to potential harm to the fruit and oil quality, the growing season also needs to be warm enough for fruits to mature before even light fall frosts (mostly by early November). Fortunately, olive trees can withstand drought and are extremely robust in hot summer temperatures.
C. The best olive oils have a certificate that verifies the cold pressing and stone grinding extraction methods. In this procedure, olives are first manually picked when they are sufficiently ripe and mature. As per the experts, hand harvesting is preferable to machine harvesting because it prevents fruit bruising, which results in tartness and oil acidity. Daily transfers of the harvested olives to the mill take place. This is crucial since it reduces the amount of time needed between selection and pressing. Some extra virgin olive oil producers are known to transport the olives over long distances using multi-ton trucks, subjecting the delicate fruit to crushing weight and the harsh sun, which accelerates oxidation and causes the olives to turn sour. In addition to the time lapse between harvesting and pressing, olive oil must be obtained using mechanical processes only to be considered virgin or extra virgin. If heat and/or chemical processes are used to produce the olive oil or if the time lapse is too long, it cannot be called virgin or extra virgin.
D. When the olives arrive at the mill, the leaves are removed using air blowers while any contaminants are rinsed off with circulating potable water. Olives are mashed to make a paste as the first stage in the extraction process. Within the cells of the fruit, the oil, which makes up 20% to 30% of the olive, is tucked away. Two granite millstones rolling within a copper bowl are used to smash the olives in the mill. Without heating the paste, crushing and combining the olives releases the oil from the olive cells. The mill’s basin has a side shutter that allows the combined olive paste to be applied to round mats. The mats are layered and put below the head of a hydraulic press frame, which extracts the oil by exerting downward pressure. The oil produced by the first pressing is of a higher caliber than that by the second and third pressings. While many other producers employ an additional step to extract more oil, some single estate producers only collect the oil that emerges from the initial crushing. Olive pulp is squeezed by placing it on mats made of hemp or polypropylene, stacking them, and pressing them. The mats serve as a filter, sending water and oil to a collection tank below. A centrifuge is then used to separate the oil and water.
E. Regardless of the method utilized for the initial pressing, the temperature of the oil during production is crucial in order to sustain the distinct characteristics of the oil. If the temperature of the oil climbs above 86ºF, it will be destroyed and cannot be perceived cold-pressed.
F. The oil from the first pressing has the highest concentration of “polyphenols,” which have been discovered to be potent antioxidants capable of preventing various diseases. The polyphenols in olives are not the only components that have health-enhancing properties, but they stand out among other types of cooking oils like sunflower and soy. Extra virgin olive oils are truly distinguished from other oils and other types of olive oils by their polyphenols. The amount of polyphenols decreases with increasing olive oil refinement.
G. The result of the producers’ hard work is a high quality, cold-pressed extra virgin oil with organoleptic properties, which give the oil its health-beneficiary and fragranced characteristics.
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Olive Oil Production IELTS Reading Questions
Question 1 – 4
Choose the correct letters A, B, C or D
Write the correct letters in boxes 1 – 4 on your answer sheet.
1. According to the text, which of the following does NOT influence the individual characteristics of olive oils from different areas?
A Access to water
B Picking techniques
C The date of the picking
D Olive varieties
2. According to the text, which of the following is NOT considered a part of olive tree handling?
A Replanting
B Feeding
C Killing parasites
D Careful watering
3. According to the text, what is the main harm of frost?
A It kills the olive tree
B The fruit won’t mature
C The olives produced will be small in size
D Not enough fruit will be produced
4. According to the text, which of the following does NOT have any impact on the “extra virgin” olive oil substantiation?
A The time gap between tree and bottle
B Using water in the extraction process
C The temperature of the extraction process
D Which pressing the oil is taken from
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QUESTIONS 5 – 7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage? In boxes 5-7 on your answer sheet, write
- TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
- FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
- NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
5. Olive trees don’t need a regular supply of water to survive.
6. No other cooking oils apart from olive oil contain polyphenols.
7. Damage to olives before they are pressed can affect the taste of the oil.
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QUESTIONS 8 – 13
Complete the flowchart below. Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Passage for each answer.
The Olive Oil Production Process
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Renewable Energy IELTS Reading Question with Answer
Olive oil production reading answers
1. A
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. True
6. True
7. Not Given
8. Clay loam soil
9. Pests
10. Good economic yield
11. Paste
12. Hydraulic press
13. Centrifuge
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