Lab 2

Wild olive

Zainab

Introduction:-

The olive is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.

Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil. The word derives from Latin olīva which in turn comes from the Greek, The word 'oil' in multiple languages ultimately derives from the name of this tree and its fruit.

Taxonomy:-

Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Oleaceae
Genus:	Olea
Species:	O. europaea
Binomial name
Olea europaea

Habitat:-

The wild olive is a tree, 50-70 feet in height, 1 foot in diameter.  It has a long, narrow, somewhat oblong crown. This tree often appears shrubby. The wild olive grows on moist, rich soil near swamps, ponds, and streams.  It is less common on dry upland sites.  It is found from North Carolina to Florida along the coast; west to Louisiana.

Biological importance:-

Since its first domestication, Olea europaea has been spreading back to the wild from planted groves. Its original wild populations in southern Europe have been largely swamped by feral plants.

In some other parts of the world where it has been introduced, most notably South Australia, the olive has become a major woody weed that displaces native vegetation. In South Australia, its seeds are spread by the introduced red fox and by many bird species, including the European starling and the native emu, into woodlands, where they germinate and eventually form a dense canopy that prevents regeneration of native trees. As the climate of South Australia is very dry and bushfire prone, the oil rich feral olive tree substantially increases the fire hazard of native sclerophyll woodlands.

Ecological importance:-

• This tree is used as an ornamental. The olive tree, Olea europaea, has been cultivated for olive oil, fine wood, olive leaf, and the olive fruit.

• Olives are a naturally bitter fruit that is typically subjected to fermentation or cured with lye orbrine to make it more palatable.
• Green olives and black olives are typically washed thoroughly in water to remove oleuropein, a bitter carbohydrate. Sometimes they are also soaked in a solution of food grade sodium hydroxide to accelerate the process.
• Green olives are allowed to ferment before being packed in a brine solution. American black ("California") olives are not fermented, which is why they taste milder than green olives.

• 
  Freshly picked olive fruit is not palatable because it contains phenolic compounds and oleuropein, a glycoside which makes the fruit too bitter, although not unhealthy. There are many ways of processing olives for eating. Traditional methods use the natural microflora on the fruit and procedures which select for those floras that ferment the fruit. This fermentation leads to three important outcomes: the leaching out and breakdown of oleuropein and phenolic compounds; the creation of lactic acid, which is a natural preservative; and a complex of flavors some fermentation products. The result is a product which will store with or without refrigeration.
• Fresh olives are often sold at markets as food.

Economic importance:-

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• Olives are one of the most extensively cultivated fruit crops in the world.

• In 2009 there were 9.9 million hectares planted with olive trees, which is more than twice the amount of land devoted to apples, bananas or mangoes. Only coconut trees and oil palms command more space.

• Cultivation area tripled from 2,600,000 to 8,500,000 hectares (6,400,000 to 21,000,000 acres) between 1960 and 2004 and in 2008 reached 10.8 mln Ha.

• The ten largest producing countries, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, are all located in the Mediterranean region and produce 95% of the world's olives.