November 09, 2006
Many Southern California olive growers have asked about avocado oil as their climate often supports both crops.
Recently the Olive Oil Source helped install a state of the art Pieralisi avocado processing plant in Southern California at Cid and Corinne da Silva's Avocado Grove in Valley Center. Corinne is a former director of an internet marketing firm and Cid a former software architect. The couple purchased their 40 acre avocado grove with the idea of developing some new markets for an old crop.
Avocados grow slowly on the tree and begin to ripen when picked. They are often grown on steep slopes and fruit which are the right size are laboriously chosen and hand picked via ladders.
An olive oil processing plant can be used to make avocado oil with some modification. The ripe fruit is fed into a machine which removes the skin and pits. The fruit pulp goes through a mill and subsequently looks like guacamole for the rest of its processing.
The malaxation is longer, requiring up to several hours to release the fine emulsion of oil. Avocado paste is fed to the
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Corinne and Cid and Lisa Deane of the Olive Oil Source
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horizontal centrifugal decanter where the oil is separated and the guacamole is returned to the orchard. Yield is similar to olives.
Avocado oil has some unique qualities and fills a niche on the cooking oil shelf. It has a high smoke point so makes a good spray on cooking oil. Other characteristics make it attractive to the cosmetics industry.
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Avocado Oil coming to the top in the Malaxation Tank
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details and modifications including a custom touch screen control panel. The mill was commissioned in September and produced a beautiful dark green oil with a nutty avocado flavor. Unlike most other flavorless avocado oils on the market, the da Silvas' avocado oil is not refined. As a test, the da Silva's recently processed lemon and orange during the last two Avocado runs for 2006. The result was a luscious, emerald green, aromatic oil of: Orange/Avocado and Lemon/Avocado. The blended oils are stunning on salads, delicious in baked goods and amazing as a marinade on fish and chicken.
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Cid with the Pieralisi Decanter Centrifuge
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Specialty food stores will soon be selling the oil in limited quantities under the brand of: Bella Vado. The plan is for the press to be also used for olives and other oils in the future.
For information, you can e-mail info@bellavado.com or ring 1-888-299-6457 (OILS).