Olive
Family Oleaceae
Olea europaea, the olive (O. europaea 3), is a small slow growing tree with a gnarled stem and opposite lanceolate leaves, green above and silvery beneath, that can reach very old age (O. europaea 5). The cream-coloured small white flowers (O. europaea 2) are borne in axillary racemes; each flower with 2 stamens. The fruit is a drupe (O. europaea 1), green at first and turning dark blue when ripe, containing a single seed.
Distribution
The olive is of Mediterranean origin and was highly valued already in biblical times. It has been introduced into California, South Australia, China and other subtropical regions for the edible oil.
Use
Olive orchards (O. europaea 4,O. europaea 5) are usually very extensive, and the trees need a cool winter period to bloom. Harvesting is done by hand or with machines that shake the trees. For consumption the fruits are picked when ripe and pickled in brine. They are used in various dishes and salads.
Olive oil is used chiefly for cooking, as a salad oil and for canning sardines. The oil is obtained by pressing the ripe fruits. The first cold pressing yields clear and golden yellow oil, consisting of 80% oleic acid, used for culinary purposes. Further pressing is done at higher temperatures and yields lesser grade greenish-yellow oil, which is used for the manufacture of soap and as a lubricant. A tree starts fruiting after 7-12 years and produces 60-65 kg of olives annually. 100 kg of olives yields 14-16 litre of oil.
The biggest producers of olives are Spain, Italy and Greece. Other producing countries are Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Portugal, the US and Argentina.