Deltagen Australia are a major supplier of enzymes for Olive oil producers. Below is from an event in New Zealand at which efficiencies gained from using Deltagen Olive Enzymes was highlighted.
Processing Practices – a sell out!
More than 30 people attended the Processing Practices Seminar held in Auckland. Pablo Canamasas, as always, had the attendees captivated with his knowledge and expertise and his willingness to share and advise on best practice. One attendee commented ‘I learned more today than on any other day in my life’! Another said ‘What was covered on both days was incredible and each day was worth the fee I paid for both days.’! Then of course the networking was invaluable.
Apart from being an in-depth course on processing practices, Pablo also covered off pre and post processing. Big take out message – Quality and industry efficiency (quantity) are strongly influenced by the farm management!!!! The biggest threat to quality is harvest-processing delay (maximum 12 hours), ideally 4-6 hours! Other factors impacting on quality – pests & disease (Anthracnose!), mummified fruit, frost, irrigation, harvest time and transport, pruning, fertilisation, fruit temperature. Then of course there is storage – racking (settling and removing the settlings/sediment), type of storage containers, hygiene, temperature control (15 – 18C), no light and gassing (nitrogen). Pablo emphasised that plastic containers (pallecons, bladders, drums, etc.) should only be used for short term bulk storage, that is days only.
Many thanks are due. To Barry Wade for allowing us to use his processing facility for the practical workshop. This was a very hands-on day involving cycles to demonstrate the use of enzymes vs. no processing aids. The results were interesting in relation to increased volume of oil with aids and a smoother, polished taste.
Thanks to Mark Veale who supplied the olives. To Andrew Taylor who harvested the olives on afternoon of the first day to ensure they were fresh and in the best condition possible. To Chris Iacono from Bunna Bunoo Olives, Australia for hosting a happy hour on the first evening. Chris and his wife Gabriella thoroughly enjoyed their time meeting and talking with New Zealand grove owners and processors. To Steve Warhaft from Simunovich and Neill Smith from Forty Groves who were our chauffeurs and had to get up very early to cope with the Auckland traffic. To our sponsors who provided promotional material for the seminar packs and notably Deltagen and The Olive Centre for donating enzymes. And of course to the 30 people who attended and participated actively in the seminar.
When will the next course be run was a repeated question. Ideally Olives NZ would run these courses every two years but this depends on demand/support as they are high cost to run. For example, this course cost more than $12,000 so adequate registrations are critical for viability.
From Olives New Zealand Newsletter: http://www.olivesnz.org.nz/