Olive trees have been at home in the Mediterranean region for at least 3000 years. The plant, also known as the olive tree, has become an integral part of the cuisine and culture of Mediterranean countries, as the fruits and the oil obtained from them still represent an important economic factor today. But olive trees were already of great importance in historical times, including archaeological ones Finds and written evidence (such as the Bible) prove this.
What fruit does the olive tree bear?
The fruits of the olive tree are olives, which come in over 1000 different varieties and have different colors, flavors and nutrients depending on their level of ripeness. Green olives are unripe, while black or purple olives are riper and more aromatic.
Over 1000 different varieties are known
More than 1,000 different varieties of olives are known in Europe alone, but only a few of them have supra-regional economic importance. By far the largest olive producer is Spain; there are around 260 olive varieties here alone. These include the thick-fleshed Manzanilla olive or the aromatic and late-ripening Hojiblanca. However, olives are not only grown in the European Mediterranean region - i.e. H. grown in Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Israel and, to a lesser extent, France - but also in California, Argentina, South Africa and Turkey.
Long harvest season
The olive tree blooms in the spring months between April and June and is finally harvested between October and February. The extremely long harvest time can be explained, on the one hand, by the high yield of an olive tree in its prime - i.e. between 40 and 150 years old - but also by the fruits harvested at different levels of ripeness. The green olives available in stores are not a separate variety, but rather just unripe fruits. They have a tarter taste and a firmer flesh than the ripe, usually black or purple olives.
Black olives are more aromatic
Olives become darker the riper they become, depending on the variety. Not only does the flesh turn black, but so does the core. Deep black olives have soft flesh and are significantly more aromatic than green ones, but are also more expensive due to the longer ripening time. In order to save themselves the long time of ripening on the tree, many olive producers resort to a simple trick: They dye green (i.e. unripe) olives black with iron gluconate and thus simulate a quality that does not actually exist.
How to distinguish colored from real black olives
- on the packaging: iron gluconate must be listed in the list of ingredients
- on the taste: Colored olives taste like green olives, i.e. more tart.
- the coloring of the pit: ripe black olives have a dark pit, colored ones have a light one.
Tips & Tricks
Green olives contain less oil than black ones and are therefore significantly lower in calories. Green olives contain around 140 kilocalories per 100 grams, black olives around 350. They are both rich in unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and trace elements.
