OLIVE OIL MADE IN BRAZIL: AN ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION IN THE SERRA DA MANTIQUEIRA REGION

Abstract

Olive oil, although it has its origins in a very distant past, is present in the world cuisine, with some places being producers and others only consumers. Brazil was a simple consumer until recently, when it sought the production of olive trees with oil extraction, this work started in Marina da Fé / MG, region of Serra da Mantiqueira. With the effort of producers and the support of researchers, mainly from EPAMIG, today Brazil is a producer of olive oil of excellent quality, including international awards. In the Mantiqueira Buttresses region there are 2,000 hectares planted, with 800,000 plants. There are about 150 olive growers spread across 50 municipalities in the region. The current production of olive oil in this region is 50,000 liters per harvest, which occurs only once a year. The objective of the work was to analyze the conditions related to the production of olive oil in the Serra da Mantiqueira Region, with producers of Oliveira and Oliveira plus olive oil. It was found that the problem of olive oil production in the region does not lie in the plantation of olive trees, which have adapted to the soil and the climate, but as regards the harvesting of olives, the production of olive oil and its marketing. The geographic issue of the terrain with irregular and mountainous areas, prevents mechanization, as well as the difficulties in extracting olive oil and distributing it to the consumer market present itself as challenges for the oil produced in that region.