How Olives is made

How Olives is made: The olive tree boasts two prizes—the olive itself and the precious oil pressed from the fruit's flesh. Fallen fruit looks Edible, but it isn't, whether green or black, require processing before they can be eaten.

How are Olives made Edible: To be made Edible, Raw Olives are processed by one of several curing methods, which draw out the bitter Oleuropein. Two methods use a liquid of lye or Brine; another method cures them dry between layers of Salt. Even they, though, often test just mature, black Olives, which are slightly less bitter than the green.

Olive Tree: The olive tree has been given the Latin name Olea europaea and is from the botanical family called Oleaceae. It is an evergreen that typically grows from 10-40 ft (3-12 m) tall. The branches are fine and many, and the leathery leaves are spear-shaped and dark green on their tops and silver on their undersides.

Clusters: The Trees bloom in the late spring and produce clusters of small, white flowers. Olives grow erratically and tend to either produce in alternate years or bear heavy crops and light ones alternately. Seedlings are grafted to existing tree trunks or Trees are grown from cuttings. Olives are first seen on Trees within eight years, but the Trees must grow for 15-20 years before they produce worthwhile crops, which they will do until they are about 80 years old. Once established, the Trees are enduring and will live for several hundred years.

Raw Materials: Depending on the curing method, pure water, caustic Soda or lye, and coarse Salt are used. Among the favorites are red pepper or a variety of Mediterranean herbs for black Olives and lemon or hot green peppers or chilies for green Olives. Fennel, wine vinegar, or garlic can be used to add interest to any olive, but the time required for the Olives to take on these flavors can range from a week for whole chilies to several months for a more subtle taste like the herb fennel.

How are black Olives made: Olives naturally turn black as they ripen. "Ripe Black Olives" in a can are actually Olives which are neither black nor ripe when they are picked. They are picked very green and then cured using dilute Brine and lye solutions. Lye treatments cause natural phenolic compounds in the Olives to oxidize to a black color.

Which is healthier green or black Olives:
"There are no nutritional differences between green and black Olives. Olives are endowed with high amounts of good monounsaturated fat and minerals, such as iron and copper. They're also rich in vitamin E, polyphenols and flavonoids, which are antioxidants [that] have anti-inflammatory benefits."

Design: "Design" of Olives includes variety, color with green or ripe Olives as the two basic differences, and method of curing. Kalamata Olives from Greece are one of the best-known varieties and are distinguished by their purplish brown color and elongated shape with a sharp point. The green Manzanilla is the most famous Spanish olive and is now also cultivated in California.

The Manufacturing Process:

In the field: When Olives are harvested by hand, sheets of netting or plastic are placed on the ground under the Trees, and the harvesters climb ladders and comb the fruit from the branches. Long-handled rakes made of wood or plastic are used to pull the Olives from the tree. Other methods of harvesting including striking the branches with long canes or using shaped animal horns as combs to scrape the fruit from the branches. Pickers who use their fingers only employ a milking motion to strip the fruit from the Trees. Hand picking is preferred by most growers.

How long does it take to cure Olives:
However, the process takes at least 3 months and may take 6 months or longer, depending on the fruit variety and maturity as well as the temperature, Salt concentration, and acidity (pH level) of the Brine. Green-ripe Olives take longer to cure in Brine than naturally black ripe Olives.

In the processing plant: At the processing plant, the harvest bags are emptied into 1,000 lb (450 kg) bins. From the bins, the Olives are deposited onto conveyors and moved past a blower that blasts leaves and tree and dirt particles off the fruit. They are washed in pure water and placed in 55 gal barrels.

Olives: For Brine curing of green Olives, 12-14% Salt and water are added to the barrels filled with Olives. One cup of live active Brine is added to each barrel; the live active solution is previously used Brine that contains airborne yeasts and sugars from the Olives that fermented in the Brine. The active ingredient transfers enough yeast to begin the curing process in the new batch of Brine.

Different types of Olives: the percent of Salt in solution in the barrels. For green Olives, the salinity is increased by 2% every two to three weeks from the initial salinity of 12-14%. Black Olives begin their curing at 8-9% salinity; this is increased by 1-2% every 2 weeks until a maximum solution of 22-24% is reached.

Curing & Cleaning: After curing is completed, the barrels of Olives are emptied onto a shaker table and rinsed with clean water. The shaker table sorts the Olives by size while inspectors watch and remove damaged fruit. The Olives are moved to another station where they are pitted then stuffed. At filling stations, they are put in jars that are filled with an 8-11% saline solution. If the saline is flavored, herbs or other flavorings are also added to the Brine. The jars are then capped and sealed for safety.

Other curing methods: Processing plants may use other methods of curing. Lye curing is accomplished with a solution containing lye, an alkaline byproduct of wood ash. The Olives soak in lye solutions for 24 hours (as opposed to the six to eight weeks required for Salt Brine curing). The lye draws out the oleuropein to remove the olive's natural bitterness and make it Edible; unfortunately, lye curing also changes the color and texture of the olive and removes many of its nutrients.

Canning method: Dry (or Greek-style) curing is a method in which plump black Olives are layered in barrels with dry rock Salt (no liquid is added). The Salt breaks down the bitterness and leaches it out. The Olives are stirred daily, and purplish liquid leached from them is drained from the bottoms of the barrels. After four to six weeks, the Olives are rinsed to remove the Salt and glycoside and lightly coated in oil; they are wrinkled and purple in color, and these qualities are unpleasant to some despite the excellent flavor and nutritional value of dry-cured Olives.

Quality Control: The quality of olive processing is protected by many sets of hands and eyes. Steps from hand-picking in the grove to hand-culling of Olives on the shaker table are monitored by touch. All other processes are watched carefully. Chemistry is regulated by relatively simple instruments, and taste tests help assure the crunch of cured Olives and the blending of flavors.

Byproducts/Waste: Olive producers usually manufacture olive oil as well. Another byproduct that is growing in popularity is processed olive leaves. They are made into tea, put in caplets as crushed leaves, and processed as an extract or in tablets; all forms are believed to aid blood flow and inhibit viruses and diabetes.

Processing: Waste from olive processing consists of the pits and damaged fruit. The pits are sold as food for pigs, and all other olive waste can be ground and used as organic fertilizer. Some manufacturers return it to their groves to fertilize the olive Trees.

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