Olives and Olive Oil - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 492

practically half of all Spanish olive oil. Based on cul-
tivated surface, 'Cornicabra,' 'Hojiblanca,' and 'Lechın
de Sevilla' are also important in Spain. 'Manzanilla' and
'Gordal Sevillana' are the most appreciated as table olives
in Spain.
The 'Frantoio' cultivar occupies a cultivated surface
of 100,000 ha and can be considered the prototype of
the Italian cultivars to produce olive oil of good quality.
'Ascolana' is the best Italian cultivar for green table olives.
'Koroneiki' is the main cultivar for oil production in Greece,
and 'Conservolea' is the main cultivar for table olives.
'Ayvalik' cultivar is considered the Turkish variety with
better perspectives for oil production and 'Domat' for table
olives. 'Chemlali of Sfak' is the most important variety in
Tunisia and represents 60% of the cultivated surface. The
main Portuguese cultivar is 'Galega Vulgar' or 'Negrihna,'
which represents about 80% of its olive production and is
used primarily for oil production, although it is also ap-
preciated as a Greek-style naturally black table olive. In
Morocco, the 'Picholine marocaine' cultivar occupies 96%
of cultivated surface and is a cultivar for dual use: table
olives and oil production.

are chosen for their production of olives whose volume,
shape, flesh-to-stone ratio, fine flesh, taste, firmness, and
ease of detachment from the stone make them particularly
suitable for processing; treated to remove their bitterness
and preserved by natural fermentation, or by heat treatment,
with or without the addition of preservatives; and packed
with or without covering liquid.
Depending on the degree of ripeness of the fresh fruit,
table olives are classified as “green olives” (fruits harvested
during the ripening period, prior to coloring and when they
have reached normal size); “olives turning color” (fruits
harvested before the stage of complete ripeness is attained,
at color change); and “black olives” (fruits harvested when
fully ripe or slightly before full ripeness is reached). Each
type of olive may undergo various methods of trade prepa-
rations (IOC, 2004), which are listed in Table 26.5.
The main table olive commercial preparations are treated
green olives in brine, also known as Spanish or Seville-
style; natural black olives, also known as Greek-style; and
olives darkened by oxidation, the so-called Californian-
style and also known as ripe olives or black olives (Garrido-
Fernandez et al., 1997; Sanchez-Gomez et al., 2006). How-
ever, there are many other traditional table olive elaboration
recipes that have gained the favor of consumers due to a pro-
gressive awareness for traditional and natural foodstuffs. In
consequence, studies about these table olives preparations
are increasing (Arroyo-L opez et al., 2007; Cardoso et al.,
2009).

TABLE OLIVES

Introduction
Table olives are among the most important fermented veg-
etable food produced in the world. The use of olive fruit
in the form of table olives is lost in antiquity. The first
historical reference was by Columela in the first century,
year 54 of the Common Era. Olives cannot be eaten straight
from the tree because of their bitterness. This is due to a
high concentration of the glucoside named oleuropein, dis-
covered by Bourquelot y Vintilesco (Fernandez-Dıez et al.,
1985). This is why olives should be eaten after undergoing
a process to eliminate at least a part of that compound.
The global economic and social transcendence of olive
oil and table olive production was the reason for found-
ing the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC; at present
IOC) in 1959 in Madrid. This entity depends on the United
Nations, and its functions include regulating and promot-
ing both of the above products (Garrido-Fernandez et al.,
1997). Among its current members are Albania, Algeria,
Argentina, the EU, Croatia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jor-
dan, Lebanon, Libya, Montenegro, Morocco, Serbia, Syria,
Tunisia, and Turkey.
According to the trade standard applying to table olives
in the international trade at present (IOC, 2004), “table
olives” mean the product prepared from the sound fruits of
varieties of the cultivated olive tree ( Olea europaea L.) that

Harvest, storage, and shipping practices
The harvest date for table olives depends on the type of pro-
cessing and the end product's characteristics, mainly color
and texture (Garrido-Fernandez et al., 1997). For prepar-
ing green olives, the fruit is picked when it has reached its
maximum size and its color varies between green and yel-
lowish green. In the case of preparing natural black olives,
fruit is picked when it is black ripe, but not overripe. For
ripe olives, the fruit is picked when its color begins to
change, although it can also be picked when it is green.
The fruit must be picked, stored, and transported in such a
way that it suffers as little damage as possible. As reported
by Sanchez-Gomez et al. (2006), to prevent olive damage,
fruits are picked by hand, however, this fact implies a high
cost of the raw material and some mechanical harvesting
systems have been developed (Garrido-Fernandez et al.,
1997; Ferguson, 2006). Nevertheless, in the case of green
Spanish-style table olives, brown spots can form on the fruit
surface due to impacts the fruits receive during the mechan-
ical harvesting. To avoid this problem, fruits are transported
in sodium hydroxide solutions (lye) of low concentration