In the Homeric
world, as depicted in the Iliad, olive oil
is known only as a luxury of the wealthy--an
exotic product, prized chiefly for its value
in the heroic toilet; the warriors anoint
themselves with it after the bath, and the
body of Patroclus is similarly sprinkled;
but no mention of the culture of the plant
is made, nor does it find any place on the
Achillean shield, on which a vineyard is
represented. But, although no reference to
the cultivation of the olive occurs in the
Iliad, the presence of the tree in the
garden of Alcinous and other familiar
allusions show it to have been known when
the Odyssey was written. Whenever the
introduction may have taken place, all
tradition points to the limestone hills of
Attica as the seat of its first cultivation
on the Hellenic peninsula. When Poseidon and
Athena contended for the future city, an
olive sprang from the barren rock at the
bidding of the goddess, the patron of those
arts that were to bring undying influence to
the rising state. That this myth has some
relation to the first planting of the olive
in Greece seems certain from the remarkable
story told by Herodotus of the Epidaurians,
who, on their crops failing, applied for
counsel to the Delphic oracle, and were
enjoined to erect statues to Damia and
Auxesia (symbols of fertility) carved from
the wood of the true garden olive, then
possessed only by the Athenians, who granted
their request for a tree on condition of
their making an annual sacrifice to Athena,
its patron; they thus obeyed the command of
the Pythian, and their lands became again
fertile. The sacred tree of the goddess long
stood on the Acropolis, and, though
destroyed in the Persian invasion, sprouted
again from the root--some suckers of which
were said to have produced those olive trees
of the Academy in an after age no less
revered.
By the time of Solon the olive had so spread
that he found it necessary to enact laws to
regulate the cultivation of the tree in
Attica, from which country it was probably
distributed gradually to all the Athenian
allies and tributary states. To the Ionian
coast, where it abounded in the time of
Thales, it may have been in an earlier age
brought by Phoenician vessels; some of the
Sporades may have received it from the same
source; the olives of Rhodes and Crete had
perhaps a similar origin. Samos, if we may
judge from the epithet of Aeschylus, must
have had the fruitful plant long before the
Persian Wars.
Yielding a grateful substitute for the
butter and animal fats consumed by the races
of the north, the olive, among the southern
nations of antiquity, became an emblem not
only of peace but of national wealth and
domestic plenty; the branches borne in the
Panathenaea, the wild olive spray of the
Olympic victor, the olive crown of the Roman
conqueror at ovation, and those of the
equites at their imperial review alike
typified gifts of peace that, in a barbarous
age, could be secured by victory alone.
Among the Greeks the oil was valued as an
important article of diet, as well as for
its external use. The Roman people employed
it largely in food and cookery--the wealthy
as an indispensable adjunct to the toilet;
and in the luxurious days of the later
empire it became a favorite axiom that long
and pleasant life depended on two fluids,
wine within and oil without. Pliny vaguely
describes fifteen varieties of olive
cultivated in his day, that called the
Licinian being held in most esteem, and the
oil obtained from it at Venafrum in Campania
the finest known to Roman connoisseurs; the
produce of Istria and Baetica was regarded
as second only to that of the Italian
peninsula.
The gourmet of the empire valued the unripe
fruit, steeped in brine, as a provocative to
the palate, no less than his modern
representative; and pickled olives,
retaining their characteristic flavor, have
been found among the buried stores of
Pompeii. The bitter juice or refuse
deposited during expression of the oil
(called amurca), and the astringent leaves
of the tree have many virtues attributed to
them by ancient authors. The oil of the
bitter wild olive was employed by the Roman
physicians in medicine, but does not appear
ever to have been used as food or in the
culinary art.
In modern times the olive has been spread
widely over the world; and, though the
Mediterranean lands that were its ancient
home still yield the chief supply of the
oil, the tree is now cultivated successfully
in many regions unknown to its early
distributors. Protected by high brick walls,
a fruiting olive tree is in the Chelsea
Physic Garden, London. Soon after the
discovery of the Americas it was conveyed
thither by the Spanish settlers. In Chile it
flourishes as luxuriantly as in its native
land, the trunk sometimes becoming of large
girth, while oil of fair quality is yielded
by the fruit. To Peru it was carried at a
later date, but has not there been equally
successful. Introduced into Mexico by the
Jesuit missionaries of the 17th century, it
was planted by similar agency in Upper
California, where it stagnated under the
careless management of the Anglo-Saxon
conqueror. Olive cultivation has also been
attempted in the south-eastern states,
especially in South Carolina, Florida and
Mississippi. In the eastern hemisphere the
olive has been established in many inland
districts which would have been anciently
considered ill-adapted for its culture. To
Armenia and Persia it was known at a
comparatively early period of history, and
many olive-yards now exist in Upper Egypt.
The tree has been introduced into Chinese
agriculture, and has become an important
addition to the resources of the Australian
planter. In Queensland the olive has found a
climate specially suited to its wants; in
South Australia, near Adelaide, it also
grows vigorously; and there are probably few
coast districts of the vast island continent
where the tree would not flourish. It has
likewise been successfully introduced into
some parts of Cape Colony.
The olive is used in different culinary
disciplines: In mixed drinks it is the
famous garnish of the martini; in sausages,
it may be used in mortadella and so on. It
is commonly used in breads as well.
Cultivation of the olive is a key
characteristic of Mediterranean mixed
farming, and played a large part in the
economic development of ancient Greece
because of the suitability of olive oil as
an export crop. For instance Attica, the
region of Athens, was a grain importer and
olive oil exporter from early historic
times. The Athenian pottery industry was
stimulated largely by the demand for
containers in which to export olive oil.
Note also that the green olive and black
olive are the same plant; green olives are
pickled before ripened, where black olives
are pickled after being ripened.
Cultivation
and uses
For more details on this topic, see olive
(fruit).
The Olive has been used since ancient times
for the making of olive oil and for eating
of the fruit, which, being bitter in its
natural state, are typically subjected to
fermentation or cured with lye or brine to
be made more palatable.
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 and by the earliest
poets. The ancient agriculturists believed
that the Olive would not succeed if planted
more than a short distance from the sea;
Theophrastus gives 300 stadia (55.6 km) as
the limit). Modern experience does not
always confirm this, and, though showing a
preference for the coast, it has long been
grown further inland in some areas with
suitable climates, particularly in the
southwestern Mediterranean (Iberia,
northwest Africa) where winters are less
severe.
Olives are now culivated in many regions of
the world such as Australia, New Zealand,
and California. Considerable research has
been done to support the health benefits of
eating olives and olive oil (see external
links below for research results).
[edit]
Cultivars
Small Olive Tree
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Small Olive Tree
Large Olive Tree
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Large Olive Tree
Olive Tree Leaves
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Olive Tree Leaves
Olive Tree Trunk
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Olive Tree Trunk
Olive Flowers
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Olive Flowers
A young olive plant, germinated from a seed
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A young olive plant, germinated from a seed
There are thousands of cultivars of the
Olive. In Italy alone at least three hundred
cultivars have been enumerated, but only a
few are grown to a large extent. The main
Italian cultivars are 'Leccino', 'Frantoio'
and 'Carolea'. None of these can be safely
identified with ancient descriptions, though
it is not unlikely that some of the
narrow-leaved cultivars that are most
esteemed may be descendants of the Licinian
olive. The broad-leaved olive trees of
Portugal and Spain bear a larger fruit, but
the edible portion (the drupe) has a more
bitter flavour and the oil is of poorer
quality. These 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'. In recent times, efforts have
been directed at producing hybrid cultivars
with qualities such as resistance to
disease, quick growth and larger or more
consistent crops.
Some particularly important cultivars of
olive include:
- 'Frantoio'
and 'Leccino'. 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 big size, black olive, named after
the city of Kalamata, Greece, used as a
table olive.
- 'Koroneiki'
originates from the southern Peloponese,
around Kalamata and Mani in Greece. This
small olive, though difficult to
cultivate, has a high oil yield and
produces oil of exceptional quality.
- 'Picholine'
originated in the south of France. It is
green, medium size, and elongated. Their
flavor is mild and nutty.
- 'Lucques'
originated in the south of France. They
are green, of a large size, and elongated.
The bone has an arcuated shape. Their
flavour is mild and nutty.
- 'Souri'
originated in Lebanon and is widespread in
Israel and neighboring countries. It has a
high oil yield and exceptionally aromatic
flavour.
- '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 oil has a strong
flavor with a hint of green leaf. Barnea
is widely grown in Israel and in the
southern hemisphere, particularly in
Australia and New Zealand.
- 'Maalot'
is another modern, disease-resistant,
Israeli cultivar derived from the North
African 'Chemlali' cultivar. The olive is
medium sized, round, has a fruity flavor
and can be used for oil or for table
olives.
Growth
and propagation
The olive tree grows very slowly, but over
many years the trunk can attain a
considerable diameter. Augustin Pyrame de
Candolle recorded one exceeding 10 m in
girth. Some Italian olive trees have been
credited with an antiquity reaching back to
the Roman empire such as the Linza olive
plants cited before bishop Ludovico de
Pennis' pastorale visit to Alliste on 11 May
1452; but the age of such ancient trees is
always doubtful during growth, and their
identity with old descriptions still more
difficult to establish. Trees rarely exceed
15 m in height, and are generally confined
to much more limited dimensions by frequent
pruning. The wood, of a yellow or light
greenish-brown hue, is often finely veined
with a darker tint, and, being very hard and
close-grained, is valued by the cabinetmaker
and ornament turner.
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. Branches of various thickness are cut
into lengths of about 1 m and planted deeply
in manured ground, soon vegetate; shorter
pieces are sometimes laid horizontally in
shallow trenches, when, covered with a few
centimetres of soil, they rapidly throw up
sucker-like shoots. In Greece, grafting the
cultivated tree on the wild form is a common
practice. In Italy, embryonic buds, which
form small swellings on the stems, are
carefully excised and planted beneath the
surface, where they grow readily, their buds
soon forming a vigorous shoot.
Occasionally the larger boughs are marched,
and young trees thus soon obtained. 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 pruning preserves the
flower-bearing shoots of the preceding year,
while keeping the tree low enough to allow
the easy gathering of the fruit. The spaces
between the trees are regularly fertilized.
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.
A calcareous soil, however dry or poor,
seems best adapted to its healthy
development, though the tree will grow in
any light soil, and even on clay if well
drained; but, as remarked by 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. Lax practices
such as using olives 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.
The amount of oil contained in the fruit
differs much in the various sorts; the
pericarp usually yields from 60 to 70%. |
