the juice to heat treatment at an elevated ph for a sufficient time to remove all bitter taste in general the step of removing bitterness will be among the first steps in a multi step process to make an olive juice extract in preferred methods this step is performed early in the overall process of making an olive juice extract however this step may be perform at any time during the extraction process which is deemed convenient the elevated temperature can exist over a wide range i e from about 20 degrees c up to about 100 degrees c the actual temperature is not especially critical preferred temperature ranges are from about 60 to about 95 degrees c and a more preferred temperature is about 80 degrees c along with the increase in the temperature the ph of the juice should be adjusted to a higher ph than is originally present in the untreated olive juice the adjusted ph should be in a range of about 6 to about 12 with the preferred ph being from about 7 to about 10 and even more preferably 8 to about 9 a ph above about ph 10 needs careful exclusion of oxygen because at this ph the ht rapidly degrades hence a ph u2266 9 being preferred any basic compound capable of adjusting ph can be used preferred compounds are naoh koh and.