What is oleic acid? How is it related to the quality of olive oil?

Oleic acid is the most abundant fatty acid naturally present in olive oil. It plays a central role in both the nutritional value and stability of the oil.

From a chemical point of view, oleic acid is a monounsaturated fatty acid made of 18 carbon atoms and a double bond at the 9th carbon position.

The presence of a double bond in the molecular structure makes a fatty acid “unsaturated.”

In olive oil, oleic acid does not exist as a free acid molecule. In contrast, it is bound in a larger molecule called triacylglycerol (TAG), which is the main chemical compound of any vegetable oils and fats, including olive oil.

Each triacylglycerol consists of three fatty acid chains, known as acyl chains, attached to a glycerol backbone.