| This article is about the tree; for its edible fruit, see Olive (fruit); for its oil, see Olive oil; for other uses, see Olive (disambiguation)."Olive tree" redirects here; for other uses, see The Olive Tree.The Olive (Olea europaea) is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean region, from Syria and the maritime parts of Asia Minor and northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil.Growth and propagation
4.Fruit harvest and processing
4.Pests and diseases
6 Economy
6.Description
The Olive is an evergreen tree or shrub native to the Mediterranean, Asia and parts of Africa.The trunk is typically gnarled and twisted.Olives are harvested at the green stage or left to ripen to a rich purple color (black olive).Canned black olives may contain chemicals that turn them black artificially.History
The olive is one of the plants most cited in recorded literature.In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus crawls beneath two shoots of olive that grow from a single stock.The Roman poet, Horace mentions it in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: "As for me, olives, endives, and smooth mallows provide sustenance."Lord Monboddo comments on the olive in 1779 as one of the foods preferred by the ancients and as one of the most perfect foods.The leafy branches of the olive tree, as a symbol of abundance, glory and peace, were used to crown the victors of friendly games and bloody war.Old trees
Pliny the Elder told of a sacred Greek olive tree that was 1600 years old.Several trees in the Garden of Gethsemane (from the Hebrew words "gat shemanim" or oil press) in Jerusalem are claimed to date back to the time of Jesus.Some Italian olive trees are believed to date back to Roman times, although identifying progenitor trees in ancient sources is difficult.However, the age of an olive tree in Crete, claimed to be over 2,000 years old, has been determined on the basis of tree ring analysis.It still gives fruit (about 30 kg per year), which is made into top quality olive oil.The olive tree is one of the symbols of Athena, the Greek goddess, and is frequently mentioned in the Bible and the Qur'an.For more details on this topic, see olive (fruit).An example of black olives.The olive has been cultivated since ancient times as a source of olive oil, fine wood, and olives for consumption.Green olives and black olives are soaked in a solution of sodium hydroxide and washed thoroughly in water to remove oleuropein, a bitter carbohydrate.Green olives are allowed to ferment before being packed in a brine solution.American black ("California") olives are not fermented, which is why they taste milder than green olives.It is not known when olives were first cultivated for harvest.Among the earliest evidence for the domestication of olives comes from the Chalcolithic Period archaeological site of Teleilat Ghassul in what is today modern Jordan.The plant and its products are frequently referred to in the Bible, the Qur'an and by the earliest recorded poets.Farmers in ancient times believed olive trees would not grow well if planted more than a short distance from the sea; Theophrastus gives 300 stadia (55.Olive plantation in Andalucia, Spain.Olives are now cultivated in many regions of the world with Mediterranean climate, such as South Africa, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Mediterranean Basin, Palestine and California.Considerable research has been accumulated supporting the health benefits of consuming olives and olive oil (see external links below for research results).The olive tree provides leaves, fruit and oil.Olive leaves are used in medicinal teas.There are thousands of cultivars of the olive.The main Italian cultivars are 'Leccino', 'Frantoio' and 'Carolea'.The Iberian olives are usually cured and eaten, often after being pitted, stuffed (with pickled pimento, onion, or other garnishes) and jarred in fresh brine.Since many cultivars are self sterile or nearly so, they are generally planted in pairs with a single primary cultivar and a secondary cultivar selected for its ability to fertilize the primary one, for example, 'Frantoio' and 'Leccino'.Rich taste and thick pulp.These cultivars are the principal participants in Italian olive oils from Tuscany.Leccino has a mild sweet flavour while Frantoio is fruity with a stronger aftertaste.Due to their highly valued flavour, these cultivars have been migrated and are now grown in other countries.Arbequina' is a small, brown olive grown in Catalonia, Spain.As well as being used as a table olive, its oil is highly valued.Empeltre' is a medium sized, black olive grown in Spain.They are used both as a table olive and to produce a high quality olive oil.Kalamata' is a large, black olive, named after the city of Kalamata, Greece, used as a table olive.These olives are of a smooth and meatlike taste.This small olive, though difficult to cultivate, has a high oil yield and produces olive oil of exceptional quality.Pecholine' or 'picholine' originated in the south of France.Their flavour is mild and nutty.The stone has an arcuated shape.It has a high oil yield and exceptionally aromatic flavour.Baladi', which along with 'Souri' and 'Malissi' are considered to produce among the highest quality olive oil in the world.Barnea' is a modern cultivar bred in Israel to be disease resistant and to produce a generous crop.It is used both for oil and for table olives.The olive is medium sized, round, has a fruity flavour and is used almost exclusively for oil production.Mission' originated on the California Missions and is now grown throughout the state.They are black and generally used for table consumption.Growth and propagation
Olive trees show a marked preference for calcareous soils, flourishing best on limestone slopes and crags, and coastal climate conditions.They tolerate drought well, thanks to their sturdy and extensive root system.The olive tree grows very slowly, but over many years the trunk can attain a considerable diameter.They can possibly reach great age and the trees rarely exceed 15 m in height, and are generally confined to much more limited dimensions by frequent pruning.The olive is propagated in various ways, but cuttings or layers are generally preferred; the tree roots easily in favourable soil and throws up suckers from the stump when cut down.In Greece, grafting the cultivated tree on the wild form is a common practice.The olive is also sometimes raised from seed, the oily pericarp being first softened by slight rotting, or soaking in hot water or in an alkaline solution, to facilitate germination.Where the olive is carefully cultivated, as in Languedoc and Provence, the trees are regularly pruned.The crop from old trees is sometimes enormous, but they seldom bear well two years in succession, and in many instances a large harvest can only be reckoned upon every sixth or seventh season.Pliny, the plant is more liable to disease on rich soils, and the oil is inferior to the produce of the poorer and more rocky ground.Fruit harvest and processing
Most olives today are harvested by shaking the boughs or the whole tree.Another method involves standing on a ladder and "milking" the olives into a sack tied around the harvester's waist.Using olives found lying on the ground can result in poor quality oil.In southern Europe the olive harvest is in the winter months, continuing for several weeks, but the time varies in each country, and also with the season and the kinds cultivated.Workers can then harvest the fruit without the weight of the load around their neck.The oliviera has large tongs that are spun around quickly, removing fruit from the tree.This method is used for olive oil variety olives.Table olive varieties are more difficult to harvest, as workers must take caution not to damage the fruit in any way.Picking baskets that hang around the worker's neck are used.Traditional fermentation
Olives freshly picked from the tree contain phenolic compounds and a unique glycoside, oleuropein, which makes the fruit unpalatable for immediate consumption.There are many ways of processing olives for table use.Traditional methods use the natural microflora on the fruit and procedures which select for those that bring about fermentation of the fruit.The result is a product which will store with or without refrigeration.One basic fermentation method is to get food grade containers, which may include plastic containers from companies which trade in olives and preserved vine leaves.Many bakeries also recycle food grade plastic containers which are well sized for olive fermentation; they are 10 to 20 litres in capacity.Freshly picked olives are often sold at markets in 10 kg trays.Olives should be selected for their firmness if green and general good condition.Olives can be used green, ripe green (which is a yellower shade of green, or green with hints of color), through to full purple black ripeness.The olives are soaked in water to wash them, and drained.Each olive is given a single deep slit with a small knife (if small), or up to three slits per fruit (if large, eg 60 fruit per kg).The olives are weighed down with an inert object such as a plate so they are fully immersed and lightly sealed in their container.The light sealing is to allow the gases of fermentation to escape.It is also possible to make a plastic bag partially filled with water, and lay this over the top as a venting lid which also provides a good seal.The exclusion of oxygen is useful but not as critical as when grapes are fermented to produce wine.The olives can be tasted at any time as the bitter compounds are not poisonous, and oleuropein is a useful antioxidant in the human diet.The olives are edible within 2 weeks to a month, but can be left to cure for up to three months.Green olives will usually be firmer in texture after curing than black olives.Olives can be flavored by soaking them in various marinades, or removing the pit and stuffing them.Herbs, spices, olive oil, feta, capsicum (pimento), chili, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic cloves, wine, vinegar, juniper berries, and anchovies are popular flavorings.Sometimes the olives are lightly cracked with a hammer or a stone to trigger fermentation.This method of curing adds a slightly bitter taste.Italy olives suffer occasionally from frost.Another pest which spreads through olive trees is the black scale bug.Black scale is a small black beetle that resembles a small black spot.They attach themselves firmly to olive trees and reduce the quality of the fruit.The main predator of black scale is wasps.Production
Olive is the most extensively cultivated fruit crop in the world.Its cultivation areas has tripled in the past 44 years, passing from 2.World
17,317,089
8,597,064
20.Spain
6,160,100
2,400,000
25.Greece
2,400,000
765,000
31.Turkey
1,800,000
594,000
30.Syria
998,988
498,981
20.Tunisia
500,000
1,500,000
3.Egypt
318,339
49,888
63.Olive as an invasive weed
Since its first domestication, Olea europaea has been spreading back to the wild from planted groves.In some other parts of the world where it has been introduced, most notably South Australia, the Olive has become a major woody weed that displaces native vegetation.Its seeds are spread by the introduced Red Fox and by many bird species including the European Starling and the native Emu into woodlands where they germinate and eventually form a dense canopy that prevents regeneration of native trees.Olive Oil Production on Bronze Age Crete: Nutritional properties, Processing methods, and Storage life of Minoan olive oil."Genetic diversity and relationships in olive (Olea europaea L.TAG Theoretical and Applied Genetics' Volume 105, Number 4.Brief Study of Olives and Olive Oil in Palestine.Oleaceae and Nerium oleander L.Ancient wild olives in Mediterranean forests.Feral olives (Olea europaea) as future woody weeds in Australia: a review.Look up olive in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See Copyrights for details.Shaded green, it becomes olive drab.Olive can also be referred to as dark yellow.In religion, olive is sometimes used as a Church color during Ordinary Time.Shades of olive, such as Olive Drab, are frequently used for camouflage, or by the military in general.The complementary color of olive is lavender.This page was last modified 04:52, 27 October 2007.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.LEVEL CONTENT CATEGORY (variable is set within core.DOWNLOAD FILE NAMING
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Buy greek olives OnlineHuge Selection of greek olives.OlivesSponsored LinksGreek olivesFast, Relevant Local Information.Find Greek Olives Here!Olea europaea, of Mediterranean and other warm regions, cultivated chiefly for its fruit.Also called olive wood.The small ovoid fruit of this tree, an important food and source of oil.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.Aegean language (perhaps Cretan) as Armenian ewi "oil."Olive branch as a token of peace is from c.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.Share This
Olive Branch, MS (city, FIPS 54040) Location: 34.Zip code(s): 38654
Olive Hill, KY (city, FIPS 57918) Location: 38.Olive, MT Zip code(s): 59343
Mount Olive, AL Zip code(s): 35117
Mount Olive, IL (city, FIPS 51024) Location: 39.Zip code(s): 62069
Mount Olive, MS (town, FIPS 49520) Location: 31.Zip code(s): 39119
Mount Olive, NC (town, FIPS 45100) Location: 35.This tree yielded oil which was highly valued.The best oil was from olives that were plucked before being fully ripe, and then beaten or squeezed (Deut.It was called "beaten," or "fresh oil" (Ex.James (3:12) calls the fruit "olive berries."The phrase "vineyards and olives" (Judg. |
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