When buying wholesale olives, it is important to know that there are different varieties of olives. Olive have been part of the human diet for years before canning industries, martinis and grocery stores came into the picture. However, a few decades ago, the average folk knew only a few varieties – some were black, some were green, and others were pimento-stuffed. Yet olives are diverse and equally versatile.
Importance of olives
Olives are historically important. Olive trees are considered to be some of the oldest trees in the world to be harvested by man, a practice that goes back to more than eight thousand years ago. Today, olives are grown for both their fruits and oil. The trees thrive in subtropical warm zones especially in rocky soil and sea air. Native to Asia Minor and Syria, the first olives were picked from shrubs. It was the Assyrians who discovered the pungent and flavourful oil could be pressed from the fruit and so they started cultivating and harvesting the shrubby trees.
Black, green and purpose olives
It is important to understand that there are no green olive trees. You can know whether an olive is ripe or not by checking its colour. When green olives ripen, they become black olives. They can also transform from green to a vibrant red and purple. They then go to the darkest back. The darker it is, the riper it was when it was plucked from the tree. So, when buying your olives from wholesale food suppliers, it is important to check on the colour to know the state of the fruit. Green olives are picked at the start of the harvest season. They have a lovely flavour and firm texture. Black olives are often picked in December and November, sometimes as late as January. They are often richer, softer and meatier.
Famed canned olives
These olives are often picked green and then pumped up with enough oxygen to turn them black. A chemical compound known as ferrous gluconate is used to fix their shade.
Making of an Olive
Olives are fruits with a single stone inside. They are full of the oleuropein compound which gives them their intense bitterness. Compared with other drupes – cherries and peaches, olives have a lower sugar content and high oil content, both of which may vary depending on the variety and the time of harvest.
Curing
It is the cure that makes olives to be olives, impairing the saltiness, flavour and tender texture. Oleuropein is safe but unappealing and this means that olives have to undergo a special curing process before they are ready to eat. If you have accidentally bitten a raw fruit, you are very much familiar with the bitter panic that you feel.
Most people buy cured wholesale olives. Olive curing is more like a fermentation process. it is the conversion of the natural sugars of the olives into lactic acid. The harsh tasting phenols and oleuropein get leached from the olive through brine curing, water curing, dry curing, lye curing or sun curing.
