Olive

It suits warm temperate, subtropical and Mediterranean climates. Olive require a long hot growing season to properly ripen the fruit. They also need sufficient winter chill to insure fruit set. It can grow in regions with temperature ranges from 7-35°C. Plants can survive frosts but green fruit can be damaged as -2°C. Trees are wind tolerant. Olives can grow on any well drained soil up to pH 8.5. A pH of 6.5-7.5 is ideal. They can tolerate mild saline conditions. In India it grows as 750-1450 m altitude. It grows in Miombo woodland in Africa. It suits hardiness zones 8-10. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

Also known as:

Acebuche, Aceituna, Gan lan, Manzanillo, Molialundi, Muthata, Mu xi lan, Olivenbaum, Olivier, Olivo, 'Oliwa, Olibu, Ulivo, Tahatimt, Zaitun, Zeitun, Zeytin

Synonyms

Olea africana Mill.

Edible Portion

Fruit, Herb, Spice, Manna, Leaves, Oil

Where does Olive grow?

Found in: Africa, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bermuda, Britain, Burundi, Caucasus, Central Africa, Chile, China, Congo, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, East Africa, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Europe, France, Greece, Hawaii, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Marquesas, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mediterranean, Mexico, Middle East, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Africa, North America, Oman, Pacific, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Peru, Portugal, Rwanda, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovenia, Somalia, Southern Africa, South America, Spain, St Helena, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tasmania, Tibet, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United States, West Africa, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Notes: There are over 20-40 Olea species.

Growing Olive

Cultivation: Growing trees from seed mean they revert to wild small fruited kinds. Seed are poorly viable and may take 2 years to germinate. Normally trees are grown by budding or grafting. Suckers can be used but these may be wild seedling kinds. Trees can be grown from cuttings. Cuttings 30-35 cm long and 3-8 cm thick from 2 year old wood are used with rooting hormone. Thinning the crop can increase fruit size. Thinning to 2-3 fruit per twig is best. Pruning both regulates growth and shapes the tree. Careful pruning can avoid bearing in alternate years. Olives never bear fruit in the same place twice and normally produce on the previous year's growth. Many varieties are self-sterile and need suitable cross pollinators.

Edible Uses: The ripe fruit is used after being pickled or preserved. It is also used for oil. Raw fruit contain an alkaloid making them bitter and unpalatable. This is removed by lye curing (1.3-2% caustic soda), then washing with water and then transferring to a saline solution. The tree is the source of an edible manna.

Production: Trees can reach bearing age in about 4 years. Trees can live for 500 years. Green olives are picked unripe, black olives when ripe.

Nutrition Info

per 100g edible portion

Edible Part	Energy (kcal)	Protein (g)	Iron (mg)	Vitamin A (ug)	Vitamin c (mg)	Zinc (mg)	% Water
Fruit - ripe	115	0.84	1.6	40	0.9	0.2	80

Olive Photos

Olive Olive Olive Olive Olive

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