Cooking with extra virgin olive oil: what the studies say

"You shouldn't cook with extra virgin olive oil." The claim comes up often, with one argument: its smoke point is supposedly too low. What do the published studies say? Here is what they actually measure, without exaggerating or playing anything down.

Smoke point, a misleading indicator

The smoke point is the temperature at which an oil starts to give off visible smoke. A study of 48 virgin olive oils published in 2025 in the journal Foods points out that its measurement "remains empirical and often poorly reproducible" and that few studies have measured it in virgin olive oils (Díez-Betriu et al., 2025). The authors note that values above 200 °C are generally recommended by professional and scientific sources.

Above all, this study shows that the smoke point of a virgin olive oil depends first and foremost on its free fatty acid content (its acidity): the higher it is, the lower the smoke point. Conversely, it rises with the oxidative stability of the oil. In other words, the smoke point reflects an oil's freshness and state of oxidation more than a fixed limit specific to a category.

What matters: stability under heat

An Australian team heated an extra virgin olive oil and other common cooking oils to 240 °C, then held them at 180 °C for 6 hours, with analyses carried out in an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory (De Alzaa, Guillaume and Ravetti, 2018). Results:

• extra virgin olive oil was the oil that produced the fewest polar compounds after heating, closely followed by coconut oil;
• oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids degraded more easily;
• according to the authors, the smoke point does not predict how an oil behaves when heated; oxidative stability and UV coefficients, combined with polyunsaturated fatty acid content, are better indicators.

The authors attribute this resilience to the fatty acid profile of extra virgin olive oil and to its natural antioxidants.

Polar compounds: the real marker of degradation

When an oil is heated for a long time, it forms polar compounds. In France, Article 8 of Decree No 2008-184 of 26 February 2008 provides that fats and oils whose polar compound content exceeds 25% (or whose triglyceride polymer content exceeds 14%) are deemed unfit for human consumption. A fact sheet from the DIRECCTE (French fraud control authority) also advises not exceeding 180 °C in a deep fryer and changing the oil regularly (DIRECCTE, 2016).

In a Greek study reproducing domestic conditions, a virgin olive oil was used for ten pan-fryings of potatoes at 180 °C and ten deep-fryings at 170 °C (Andrikopoulos et al., 2002). After the tenth use, it reached 17.4% polar compounds in the pan and 9.5% in the deep fryer, never reaching the rejection limit of 25 to 27%. Pan-frying degraded the oil faster than deep-frying, which the authors explain by the larger exposed surface.

Polyphenols and vitamin E: real losses

Let us be clear: cooking reduces the oil's antioxidants. The published figures show it.

• Home sautéing: in an extra virgin oil heated in a pan, the polyphenol content fell by 40% at 120 °C and by 75% at 170 °C compared with the raw oil. Temperature was the main factor (Lozano-Castellón et al., 2020).
• Repeated frying: after ten pan-fryings, 12% of the phenols and 8% of the alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) of the original virgin olive oil remained (Andrikopoulos et al., 2002).
• Use by use: over eight successive fryings, the tocopherols retained fell from 85 to 90% after the first to 15 to 40% after the eighth; the total phenols of the virgin olive oil, from 70 to 80% to 20 to 30%. Hydroxytyrosol was among the compounds eliminated most quickly (Andrikopoulos et al., 2002).

Despite these losses, the Lozano-Castellón team concludes that, under its test conditions, the cooked oil still met the parameters of the European health claim. This claim, authorised by Regulation (EU) No 432/2012, concerns the protection of blood lipids from oxidative stress by olive oil polyphenols (Saillard, 2014) and can only apply to an oil providing at least 5 mg of hydroxytyrosol and its derivatives per 20 g (Lockyer and Rowland, 2014). To find out more, read our article on olive oil polyphenols.

What the oil passes on to vegetables

Cooking does not only destroy: it also transfers. A Spanish study cooked potato, tomato, aubergine and pumpkin by deep-frying, sautéing or boiling, with extra virgin olive oil (Ramírez-Anaya et al., 2015). Deep-frying and sautéing increased the total phenol content of the vegetables, whereas boiling reduced it. Phenols from the oil (hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, oleuropein, pinoresinol) were found in the vegetables, and all the methods maintained or increased the measured antioxidant capacity.

Another team pan-fried potatoes, peppers, courgettes and aubergines in virgin olive oil: the oil and the food combined retained 32 to 64% of the alpha-tocopherol and 25 to 70% of the polyphenols, and the vegetables were enriched with antioxidants from the oil (Kalogeropoulos et al., 2006).

In practice

Do

• Cook at a controlled temperature: when frying, do not exceed 180 °C.
• Choose a fresh, low-acidity oil: acidity lowers the smoke point.
• Prefer deep-frying to a small amount in a pan if you reuse the oil: it degraded the oil less in the trials.
• Keep a drizzle of raw oil for the end of the dish, to benefit from intact polyphenols.

Don't

• Let the oil smoke: it is a sign that it is degrading.
• Reuse the same oil many times: polyphenols and vitamin E drop with each use.
• Fry different foods in the same oil, or wet foods.

FAQ

Can you fry with extra virgin olive oil?

Yes. In the studies cited, it withstood heat well and did not reach the regulatory limit of 25% polar compounds, even after ten uses.

Do polyphenols survive cooking?

Partly. Losses range from 40 to 75% when sautéing, depending on the temperature, and more with reuse. Some pass into the food.

How can I tell the quality of my oil?

From its analyses. At Oikos Antalis, our 100% Koroneiki oils, from four estates in Ilia, in the Peloponnese, are harvested by hand and cold extracted on the same day; their laboratory analyses are published. Discover our bottles and our guidance on the health benefits of olive oil.

This information is general in nature and does not replace medical advice.

Sources

• De Alzaa F., Guillaume C., Ravetti L., Evaluation of Chemical and Physical Changes in Different Commercial Oils during Heating, Acta Scientific Nutritional Health, 2018
• Díez-Betriu A. et al., Deciphering the Complexity of Smoke Point in Virgin Olive Oils to Develop Simple Predictive Models, Foods (MDPI), 2025
• Lozano-Castellón J. et al., Domestic Sautéing with EVOO: Change in the Phenolic Profile, Antioxidants (MDPI), 2020
• Andrikopoulos N.K. et al., Performance of virgin olive oil and vegetable shortening during domestic deep-frying and pan-frying of potatoes, International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 2002
• Andrikopoulos N.K. et al., Deterioration of natural antioxidant species of vegetable edible oils during the domestic deep-frying and pan-frying of potatoes, International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 2002
• Ramírez-Anaya J.P. et al., Phenols and the antioxidant capacity of Mediterranean vegetables prepared with extra virgin olive oil using different domestic cooking techniques, Food Chemistry (Elsevier), 2015
• Kalogeropoulos N. et al., Retention and distribution of natural antioxidants after shallow frying of vegetables in virgin olive oil, LWT Food Science and Technology, 2006
• Les huiles de friture : comment limiter leur dégradation ?, DIRECCTE Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées (CCRF), 2016
• Saillard M., Les effets « santé » de l'huile d'olive, OCL, 2014
• Lockyer S., Rowland I., Authorised EU health claims for polyphenols in olive oil, Woodhead Publishing, 2014