Olive

Name: Olive (Olea europaea), the fruit of the olive tree. Green and black table olives are usually the same fruit picked at different stages of ripeness and cured in different ways; the oil pressed from olives is described on the Olive Oil and Extra-Virgin Olive Oil pages. Kalamata and Manzanilla are well-known table varieties.

Description

Olives are native to the Mediterranean basin, and the tree has been cultivated for around six thousand years. Olives and olive oil were foundations of the ancient Mediterranean economy and diet, and are still central to the cooking of Greece, Italy, Spain and North Africa.

Botanically, an olive is a stone fruit, with a single hard pit. Raw olives straight from the tree are extremely bitter because of a compound called oleuropein, and are inedible. They must be cured, in brine, salt, lye or water, which removes bitterness and develops flavour, and this curing is what gives table olives their distinctive taste.

Main nutrition value

Olives are unusual among fruit for being high in fat, mostly healthy monounsaturated fat, and they also provide vitamin E and polyphenols, though cured olives are also very salty.

How best to be consumed

Olives are usually eaten cured, in small amounts, as a snack or flavouring.

1. Serve as part of a meze or antipasti plate, with bread, cheese and vegetables.
2. Chop into salads, pasta, pizza, tapenade or stews for a salty, savoury note.
3. Choose olives packed in brine rather than heavily flavoured oils, if watching fat.
4. Rinse briefly to reduce some of the saltiness if sodium is a concern.
5. Remove the pit, and check for any pits in “pitted” olives, to protect teeth.

Overconsumption could cause…

Olives are healthy in small portions, with the key caution being salt.

1. High salt (sodium) intake, since cured olives are cured in brine, which can raise blood pressure over time.
2. Weight gain from eating many, since olives are energy-dense because of their oil content.
3. Tooth damage or choking from pits.
4. Rarely, digestive upset or reactions to the preservatives or flavourings in some processed olives.

GroupsStone FruitsOlive family (Oleaceae)Rose family (Rosaceae)High sodiumRich in iron

Made intoExtra-Virgin Olive OilOlive OilOlive Oil Spread

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Wikipedia — Olive, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive