Olive Topics

• Oil
• Red
• Green
• Food

Related Images

Source

Source

del.icio.us Tags

• olive
• olive.ir
• theolivetree
• plants
• facts
• olives

Olive, Olive

Its fruit, the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil.

Olives are harvested at the green stage or left to ripen to a rich purple colour (black olive). Canned black olives may contain chemicals that turn them black artificially.

In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus crawls beneath two shoots of olive that grow from a single stock. Homer, "Odyssey, book 5", ca 800BC 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 mallow provide sustenance." "Me pascunt olivae, me cichorea levesque malvae." Horace, Odes 1.31.15 , ca 30 BC 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 Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem is mentioned several times. The olive tree itself, as well as olive oil and olives, play an important role in the Bible.

It is estimated the cultivation of the olive commenced more than 7000 years ago. The Russians also helped to spread the olive throughout its extensive empire.

Several trees in the Garden of Gethsemane (from the Hebrew words "gat shemanim" or olive press) in Jerusalem are claimed to date back to the time of Jesus. Lewington, A., & Parker, E. (1999) Ancient Trees. , pp 110113, London: Collins & Brown Ltd. ISBN 1-85585-704-9 Some Italian olive trees are believed to date back to Roman times, although identifying progenitor trees in ancient sources is difficult.

O. Rackham, J. Moody, The Making of the Cretan Landscape , 1996, cited in F. R. Riley (2002). Olive Oil Production on Bronze Age Crete: Nutritional properties, Processing methods, and Storage life of Minoan olive oil.

Kislew, Y. Tabak & O. Simhoni, Identifying the Names of Fruits in Ancient Rabbinic Literature , Leshonenu (Hebrew), vol. 69, p.279 from even before the rise of Islam. Specifically, two giant olive trees in the Arab town of Arraba and five trees in Deir Hanna, both in Galilee region, have been determined to be over 3000 years old. All seven trees continue to produce olives.

American black ("California") olives are not fermented, which is why they taste milder than green olives.

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.

They are also grown in the Crdoba Province, Argentina, which has a temperate climate with rainy summers and dry winters (Cwa). Enciclopedia Universal Europeo Americana. Volume 15. Madrid. 1981. Espasa-Calpe S.A. ISBN 84-239-4-500-6 (Complete Encyclopedia) and ISBN 84-239-4-515-4 (Volume 15 ) The climate in Argentina changes the external characteristics of the plant but the fruit keeps its original characteristics. Discriminacin de variedades de olivo a travs del uso de caracteres morfolgigos y de marcadores moleculares. 2001. Cavagnaro P., J. Jurez, M Bauza & R.W. Masuelli. AGRISCIENTA. Volume 18:27-35 Considerable research supports the health-giving benefits of consuming olives, olive leaf 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.

In Italy alone at least three hundred cultivars have been enumerated, but only a few are grown to a large extent. None of these can be accurately identified with ancient descriptions, though it is not unlikely that some of the narrow-leaved cultivars most esteemed may be descendants of the Licinian olive. The Iberian olives are usually cured and eaten, often after being pitted, stuffed (with pickled pimento, anchovies, or other fillings) and packed in brine in jars or tins.

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.

More specifically, green olives are picked at the end of September to about the middle of November. Blond olives are picked from the middle of October to the end of November and Black olives are collected from the middle of November to the end of January or early February. Some Italian and Greek olives are harvested by hand, as the terrain can be mountainous which inhibits harvesting by machine. As a result, the fruit is not bruised which leads to a superior finished product. Furthermore, the fact that branches are sawn off as part of the method of hand harvesting ensures the health of the tree for future production.

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.

A device called the oli-net wraps around the trunk of the tree and opens to form an umbrella-like catcher; workers can then harvest the fruit without the weight of the load around their neck. Another device, the oliviera, is an electric tool that connects to a battery. The oliviera has large tongs that are spun around quickly, removing fruit from the tree. This method is used for olives used for oil. Table olive varieties are more difficult to harvest, as workers must take care not to damage the fruit; baskets that hang around the worker's neck are used.

This is due to the glucoside in their flesh, which makes them taste extremely bitter. To remove this glucodise and render the olive edible, the fruit must be cured.

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 colour), through to full purple black ripeness. The olives are soaked in water to wash them, and drained. 7 litres (which is 7 kg) of room temperature water is added to the fermentation container, and 800 g of sea salt, and one cup (300 g) of white vinegar (white wine or cider vinegar). The salt is dissolved to create a 10% solution (the 800 g of salt is in an 8 kg mixture of salt and water and vinegar). Each olive is given a single deep slit with a small knife (if small), or up to three slits per fruit (if large, e.g., 60 fruit per kg). If 10 kg of olives are added to the 10% salt solution, the ultimate salinity after some weeks will be around 5 to 6% once the water in the olives moves into solution and the salt moves into the olives. 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.

Green olives will usually be firmer in texture after curing than black olives.

Lye-curing, an unnatural method, is the one resulting in the worst taste as it leeches much of the fruits' flavor. Salt-curing (also known as dry-curing) involves packing the olives in plain salt for minimum of a month, which produces a salty and wrinkled olive. Olives are placed in a water and salt solution for a few days or more as a part of the of brine-curing process. Fresh-water curing involves soaking the olives in a succession of baths, of which the water is changed daily.

Sometimes the olives are lightly cracked with a hammer or a stone to trigger fermentation. This method of curing adds a slightly bitter taste.

They attach themselves firmly to olive trees and reduce the quality of the fruit; their main predators are wasps. The curculio beetle eats the edges of leaves, leaving sawtooth damage. Burr, M. 1999. Australian Olives. A guide for growers and producers of virgin oils, 4th edition.

Dirk HR Spennemann & Allen, L.R. (2000) Feral olives ( Olea europaea ) as future woody weeds in Australia: a review.

Source: Wikipedia > Olive