Olive oil in food

From ancient times, olive oil has always been considered as an excellent food and medicinal product. In ancient Greece, during the second century AD, the Greek doctor Gallianus considered olive oil as an excellent food for treatment of intestinal diseases, and another doctor, Dioscarides, considered it as very appropriate in the composition of unguents.

Through time, olive oil has also been used to treat arthritis, gout, for scalp treatment against dandruff, to remove thorns from the skin, etc… As concerns its digestibility, assuming that it is 100 for olive oil, it is 83 for sunflower oil, 81 for peanut oil, and 36 for corn oil. Olive oil is now recommended, raw or for cooking, in food for its full seasoning qualities and varied and typical taste. It is also recommended for its healthy action: for this reason, the use of extra-virgin olive oil is indicated for its excellent quality!

NUTRITIONAL TABLE OF EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

CALORIES 9 kcal/gram (37 kj/g): 100 ml =824 kcal (3390 kj)
CHOLESTEROL absent
VITAMIN E 0.2 - 0.3 mg/gram
TOTAL FAT CONTENT 0.98 g/gram 
SATURATED FAT 10 - 15%
MONOUNSATURATED FAT 70 - 80%
POLYUNSATURATED 5 - 8%
PROTEINS absent