First extraction of extra virgin olive oil in Brazil turns 15

The first extraction of extra virgin olive oil in Brazil turns 15 this week. The pioneering run carried out at the EPAMIG Experimental Field in Maria da Fé, took place on February 29, 2008, and resulted in 40 liters of the product. Since then, Brazilian olive oils, which are also produced in the south of the country and in mountainous regions of states such as Bahia and Espírito Santo, have won medals in competitions around the world and gained prominence in the gastronomic market for their freshness and sensorial attributes.

In Serra da Mantiqueira, between the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, there are around 200 producers and 90 own brands. In 2022, production in the region reached a record of 120 thousand liters produced. For 2023, the expectation is for a drop in productivity, due to factors such as bienniality (oscillation in production from one year to another, common in perennial crops, such as coffee) and the rains that occurred during the flowering period. Around 60 liters of olive oil are expected in the region in this year's harvest.

Quality continues to be the focus of researchers and olive growers. “Expectations regarding quality are the best possible. Our olive oils have increasingly stood out for their freshness and flavor and aroma characteristics that are provided by the care that producers take and, of course, by the terroir of our region”, says the agronomist and member of the State Olive Oil Research Program from EPAMIG, Pedro Moura.

historical framework

The work that culminated in pioneering extraction began years before. The first olive tree seedlings arrived in Maria da Fé in 1935 and in the 1940s, employees linked to the Government of Minas Gerais began to study the culture. With the arrival of EPAMIG in the municipality in 1975, the Company began to conduct work focusing on evaluating the viability of olive tree planting in the southern region of Minas Gerais.

“We, especially the EPAMIG researchers, but also teams from other bodies and locations, added information that over time resulted in production possibilities, a management proposal and some cultivars, until we arrived at the first olive oil national”, recalls retired researcher Adelson Oliveira, who worked on much of the work carried out by EPAMIG.

Olive growing consultant, Nilton Caetano de Oliveira, who was manager of the Experimental Field in Maria da Fé at the time, says that the first extraction was made possible in an unplanned way. “In 2005, we worked with the production of olive tree seedlings and the olives were used to produce preserves. We requested, via a research project, the import of an extractor. It was then that Mr. Ítalo Mostarda, son of Italian parents, resident in São Paulo, came to us and proposed a partnership for an experimental extraction”.

Ítalo Mostarda says that, in the 1980s, he spent two years in Italy following the production process on the property where the family has cultivated olive trees for five generations. “I returned to Brazil ready to find the ‘city of olive trees’, but I only found distilled olive oil production in Campos do Jordão. I continued to study the culture, but without hope that it would be viable to cultivate it in Brazil. After a few years, a teacher and great friend brought me an olive branch full of olives and said he was going to take me to the place where these olive trees were. I called my father and we went, without me knowing where.”

The route was not unknown to him. “We continued towards Serra da Mantiqueira and passed through Itajubá, a city I already knew due to my work in machining. When we arrived at the entrance to Maria da Fé, we came across the first olive trees, but my friend told us to continue. In the city center I was moved by the olive trees and the large olives lying on the ground. I asked a resident if there was anyone who worked with these olive trees and he directed me to EPAMIG. At the farm I was welcomed by Nilton Caetano and asked about the fate of those olives”.

When informed that there were no means for extraction, Mr. Ítalo offered to help. He had created a handmade extractor, “a faithful replica, in a much smaller format, of the press that my family kept in Italy”, as he describes it. “At that time, at the end of March, the remaining olives were beyond ripening. We reached a word of mouth and agreed that the following year Mr. Nilton would send me some samples of olives so that we could carry out some evaluations. During the crushing process, these olives proved to be suitable for extracting olive oil, I returned to Maria da Fé with the first samples, four or five small bottles, and presented the results to the EPAMIG team and some municipal authorities”.

After these first tests, the Olive Farming field day was scheduled for February 29, 2008. “There was great expectation and also anxiety. Mr. Ítalo's parents came to Maria da Fé, we invited producers and the press and pressed the first olives 'in loco'. From then on, we sparked interest in the activity and got approval to import an extractor”, recalls Nilton Caetano.

Bet on activity

Neide Batista Soares was one of the first producers to invest in olive growing in Maria da Fé. “I started planting olive trees in 2005, with the support of EPAMIG. My interest was sparked by the proof that our lands are fertile and favorable for cultivation and by the non-existence of national products. We started with a thousand seedlings of the Arbequina variety and between 2013 and 2014 another 1300 plants of varieties such as Koroneiki, Arbosana, Grappolo and Maria da Fé”.

Neide describes the experience in the activity as “challenging and exciting”. “I produced my first olive oil in 2008, for my own consumption, and from 2010 on a commercial scale. Dona Maria da Fé brand olive oil is processed in the EPAMIG Experimental Field and sold in the southern regions of Minas and Vale do Paraíba. “This year I will have a lower production compared to the previous harvest, due to the weather conditions, but the quality will be maintained”, he concludes.

In addition to the production of olives and extra virgin olive oil, olive farming in Serra da Mantiqueira moves sectors such as tourism and gastronomy. In the Minas Gerais municipalities of Poços de Caldas and Maria da Fé, properties have offered tourists complete immersions in olive oil production. Experiences include visits to olive groves and agribusinesses, tastings and full meals in cafés and restaurants, in addition to purchasing the olive oils at their place of origin.

New research paths

Over the course of these fifteen years, national olive farming has evolved significantly. “We have achieved important advances in terms of technology at all stages of the production chain, seedling production, type of pruning, management, agroindustry, olive and olive oil analysis. At EPAMIG we have been able to acquire modern equipment, strengthen the team, and increasingly, act in line with the needs and desires of producers”, highlights the coordinator of the Company's State Olive Oil Research Program, Luiz Fernando de Oliveira.

The activity still has a lot to develop in different aspects. “We have advanced in topics such as nutrition and diseases, but there is still a lot to be done, whether in the study of plant behavior, knowledge of the productive potential of the olive tree or actions to mitigate the impacts of climatic conditions. This year's crop failure is something that has already affected our lines of action. Even though the situation is atypical, research has to be prepared to propose alternatives and mitigate negative results”, points out Luiz Fernando.

The creation of orchards, the nutrition of olive trees, disease control and other factors that impact the obtaining of high quality olive oils will be addressed during the 18th Olive Farming Field Day, which is part of the Azeitech program and takes place in person, at March 31st, at the EPAMIG Experimental Field in Maria da Fé.