The Mediterranean Sea basin is the main olive-producing region all over the world. Greece constitutes one of the most important countries in olive culture, accounting for 13% and 5.3% of the global olive oil and table olive production, respectively
The Souri cultivar, which is autochthonous to the eastern Mediterranean region, is the major olive variety cultivated traditionally under rain-fed conditions in Israel for hundreds of years. Even today, this cultivar occupies approximately two
Seventeen olive (Olea europaea L.) cultivars, including oil and table olive cultivars originating from throughout the Mediterranean area, were screened using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. The results indicate that a high degree of polymorphism is evident in the olive germplasm reexamined. Forty random decamer primers were screened; seventeen of these produced 47 reproducible amplification fragments useful as polymorphic markers. Each of the 17 cultivars can be discriminated with a few primers. Results were analyzed for similarity among the cultivars and a cluster analysis was performed. These analyses revealed two main groups: one comprising primarily small-fruited cultivars grown mainly for oil production, and the other characterized by having large fruit. There was no apparent clustering of olive cultivars according to their geographic origins.
In Tunisia, olive ( Olea europaea L.) is cultivated throughout the country. Olive farms cover more than one-third of arable land producing 6.0% of the world's olive production and contributing 45.0% of food export receipts, 4.5% of total exports
The genus Osmanthus consists of ≈30 species of evergreen trees and shrubs distributed primarily throughout temperate, subtropical, and tropical China. Fragrant tea olive is the most popular species, with at least 166 named cultivars ( Xiang and
Virgin olive oil, the main dietary fat in Mediterranean countries, differs from other edible oils because of its healthy properties and sensorial qualities. It is a genuine fruit juice, containing a high level of natural antioxidants associated with
Olive is commonly used to extract olive oil by mechanical means and is mainly grown in Mediterranean coastal areas ( Carrasco-Pancorbo et al., 2015 ; Vossen, 2007 ). The global consumption of olive oil has increased by 63% over the past 26 years
We are thankful to the World Olive Germplasm Bank of Córdoba, CIFA “Alameda del Obispo”, IFAPA, Córdoba, and the ITDA of the Comunidad de madrid, Spain for their suport. This work was funded by the project CAO 00-011-C12 of the Junta de
Olive plant material cultivated in all the Mediterranean areas, including Spain, is characterized by the abundance of very old cultivars restricted to specific areas where they originally appeared ( Barranco and Rallo, 2000 ). The origin of olive
Traditionally, olives have been cultivated in rain-fed farms with densities of 17–300 trees/ha depending on rainfall. Locally selected cultivars were propagated and planted by farmers, and trees were trained and pruned according to many diverse