Olive is a miracle of nature. In Mediterranean legends, it is referred to as the “Eternal Tree” or the “Tree of Life”. Indeed, the olive tree is an organism that can live for hundreds of years. In fact, it was sent to earth as a gift.
The origins of the olive tree have vanished over time. There are two views in this respect. One view says that olive has first appeared in the Aegean and Mediterranean sections of Anatolia, Syria and Lebanon, and the other one cite it as Egypt and Atlas Mountains in North Africa.
The results obtained from excavations indicate that olive farming dates back to at least five thousand years. In the 16th century B.C., Phoenicians disseminated olive to the Aegean islands and carried it over to the present Greek peninsula in the 14th–12th centuries, thereby expanding their plantation areas.
Olive reached present Spain in the year 1050 B.C. and present France in 600’s B.C. It left the European frontiers when it was taken to the continent of America in 1492 and then it was disseminated to the whole world over time.
Olive is a Mediterranean plant. As such, approximately 95% of the worldwide olive oil production is provided by countries bordering the Mediterranean. 30% of the olives produced in our country are table olives, which are to be consumed as olives, while 70% is used in olive oil production.
The olive tree blooms in spring and its fruit starts to ripen in summer. Starting to change color in September to November, its color first turns from green to purple and then to black. The olive tree is an evergreen tree with dense branches which is short and squat and can grow as high as 10 meters. It has a huge trunk, typically gnarled and twisted, which makes it rather aesthetic. As it grows older, its smooth gray-colored bark cracks. There is a hard seed inside its fleshy fruit. It is a very valuable tree on account of the oil obtained from the fleshy part of its fruit and its seed.
As olive oil is obtained by crushing its fleshy fruit together with its seed, it is actually a “fruit juice”, unlike other oils obtained from grains.
