Olives and Olive Oil - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 488

olives. Protein content is relatively low, between 1% and
3%, and all essential amino acids are present, although
arginine, alanine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and glycine
predominate (Manoukas et al., 1973). Ash content ranges
from 0.6% to 1% and includes potassium, followed by cal-
cium, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, and sulfur and, to a
lesser extent iron, zinc, copper, and manganese (Manoukas
et al., 1978; Nosti-Vega et al., 1984). Vitamins such as toco-
pherols, pyridoxine (B 6 ), β -carotene and β -cryptoxanthin
(provitamin A), thiamine, riboflavin, and ascorbic acid are
also present (Nosti-Vega et al., 1984; Hassapidou et al.,
1994; L opez-L opez et al., 2010).
Olive fruit contains many other substances of a very dif-
ferent nature and chemical structure such as hydrocarbons,
terpenes, sterols, alcohols, chlorophyll and carotenoid pig-
ments, polyphenols and volatile compounds. They are mi-
nority compounds but contain the “fingerprint” of the table
olive and olive oil.
The phenolic compounds (1-3%) are responsible for the
characteristic bitterness of olive fruit (Vazquez-Roncero
et al., 1974). The main polyphenol in green olives is the
oleuropein, a glucoside ester of elenolic acid with 3,4-
dihidroxyphenyl ethanol (hydroxytyrosol). While influenc-
ing the sensory quality, phenol compounds function as
antioxidants (Manna et al., 2002) and contribute to vir-
gin olive oil stability by preventing oxidation (Gutierrez
et al., 2001).
Olive fruits are also especially rich in triterpenic acids as
maslinic and olealonic, with interesting functional proper-
ties attributed.

Other minor constituents of special importance in the
olive fruit are chlorophylls and carotenoids. They are re-
sponsible for the color in green table olives and olive oil
and contribute to their functional properties. The chloro-
phyll and carotenoid content is subject to wide variations
due to differences between cultivars and degree of ripeness
of the olive fruit, latitude and environmental conditions.
These differences are mainly quantitative, since the qual-
itative composition of pigments is basically the same in
all the olive cultivars and is not modified with ripening of
the fruit (Gandul-Rojas et al., 1999a; Roca and Mınguez-
Mosquera, 2001).

WORLD PRODUCTION AND TRADE
There are about 850 million olive trees in the world, or
about 10.8 million hectares (26.7 million acres). Of that to-
tal, 98% are to be found in Mediterranean Basin countries,
1.2% in the Americas, 0.4% in East Asia, and the remaining
0.4% in Oceania. Table 26.2 shows major olive-producing,
-exporting, and -importing countries. Spain was the largest
producer of olives, with 8,014,000 metric tons, followed by
Italy, Greece, Morocco, and Turkey. Egypt, Greece, Spain,
Oman, and Italy were top five olive exporting countries in
2009, whereas Italy, Spain, the United States, France, and
the United Kingdom were top five importers. Processed
olives and olive oil are also important commodities in in-
ternational trade; leading exporting and importing countries
of these products are listed in Table 26.3.
Of the annual world production of olive fruit (approx.
18.1 MMT) 90% is used for producing olive oil and 10% are

Table 26.2. Major raw olive-producing, -exporting, and -importing countries by quantity (metric tons).

2009 1 2009 1 Producers 2010 Exporters Importers

Spain 8,014,000 Egypt 31,177 Italy 8,041

Italy 3,170,700 Greece 5,007 Spain 6,324

Greece 1,809,800 Spain 4,291 USA 3,736

Morocco 1,483,510 Oman 1,659 France 1,792

Turkey 1,415,000 Italy 1,027 United Kingdom 1,491

Syria 1,014,900 Bulgaria 1,023 Saudi Arabia 877

Tunisia 876,400 Poland 759 Portugal 848

Egypt 611,900 Peru 132 Netherlands 833

Algeria 555,200 Belgium 127 Bulgaria 564

Portugal 239,600 France 125 Austria 523

Libya 180,000 Saudi Arabia 97 Oman 499

USA 172,370 Netherlands 56 Albania 487

1 Latest data available.
Source: FAO (2011).