Olive! A Gift from Nature...

The olive tree, a Mediterranean species par excellence, has been indissolubly linked with the countries of the Mediterranean since ancient times.

Its age-old presence has marked not only the landscape but also the manners and customs, the tradition and the culture of the people in the areas where the olive is farmed. The promotion of olives as products of high nutritional value in modern cooking, bringing significant benefits to people' s health, presupposes proper farming and packaging of this virgin and traditional product.

People who live in these areas, know since the antiquity, what today becomes acceptable all over the world, as science institutes studies and independent researchers confirm the nutritional value of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, in contradiction to, harmful to health, high-fat diets.

The diffusion of such knowledge leads to an increase in demand for Mediterranean products, such as table olive, considering that it is an element of the nutritional culture of the area and it also constitutes a major element of the Mediterranean diet.

Olives consumed as an aperitif or as ingredients in raw salads, or even in cooked meals, give a special flavour to our table.

Varieties

The olive-tree belongs to the family Oleaceae and the species Olea europaea. From a technological point of view, of all the olive subspecies, we can distinguish 3 varieties, in proportion to the use of their fruits, that is :

• Table varieties, whose fruit is destined to table consumption (food use)
• Oil varieties, whose fruit is used for the olive-oil extraction
• Double use varieties, whose fruit is used for both, olive-oil extraction and food use

In Greece, these three varieties are all cultivated. For example, to the table olives variety , so-called "food olives", whose fruit is subjected to fermentation, belong "Konservoelia", like is Amfissis olive, "Nihati Kalamon" and "Elia Halkidikis".

"Koroneiki" belongs to the olive-oil variety, while among the double use varieties we find "Megaritiki" and "Throumboelia".

A through the centuries experience, but also recent researches and laboratory analysis, have proved that table olive is an excellent food, balanced and rich of calories, tasty and appetizing. In addition to its important nutritional virtues, olive flesh is also valued for its biological properties, as it is a very good source of essential amino acids, mono unsaturated "good" fats, vitamins, and contains a variety of beneficial non carbonated compounds as well.