**1. Introduction**

Table olives are greatly consumed mainly by Mediterranean Sea area populations. The italian cuisine, for example, offers many dishes, aperitifs and appetizer in which olives are an essential ingredient: fish and meat cooked with olives, table olive-based condiments for *pasta* and *pizza*, bread-dough mixed with green/black olives, *bruschetta* with olive paste, and so on. The gastronomic uses of olives are widely and very well-known, but the same cannot be said about its nutritional, nutraceutical and sensory properties. The various Italian olive cultivars with remarkable aptitude for processing as table olives have allowed the development of specific and diversified process technologies. Both chemical and biological treatments perform the dual function of hydrolyzing the compounds responsible for the bitter taste of olive fruit and stabilizing the end product to overcome the constraint of seasonal production. All technological interventions have negative collateral effects that must be minimized or at least kept under control to avoid compromising the quality of the processed product to satisfy the expectation, of the consumer, directed towards natural or minimally processed products, whose nutritional properties and health benefits remain unaltered.

The most important production zones of table olives are located in the Mediterranean area and their consumption is expanding, due to the increasing popularity of the Mediterranean diet (Table 1). In Italy, during the last three years, the average consumption of table olives was approximately 124.000 tonnes/year with a *pro-capite* assumption of 2.1 kg/year. The Italian production covers only 48.1% of the consumers demand, the remaining part is imported from Spain and Greece.

The Italian table olive-growing boasts millenary traditions and its history is an integral part of Italian culture, since its first inhabitants, in prehistoric epoch, used the alimentary resources offered by the primitive Mediterranean "Macchia" and began to domesticate the wild olive tree. Among the over 500 varieties of *Olea europaea* on the national territory only a

© 2012 Lanza, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2012 Lanza, licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

fraction is specifically suitable for processing as table olives. Italy is rich in typical table olive products, obtained by traditional methods, many of which have obtained or aspired to the recognition of trademarks (PDO, PGI, TAP). The reference to the origin through the Protected Designation of Origin and the Protected Geographical Indication gives to the product added value and it is greatly appreciated by the consumer. The Italian PDO recognized are only three, "Nocellara del Belice" (Sicilia), "La Bella della Daunia" (Puglia) and "Oliva Ascolana del Piceno" (Marche and Abruzzo). The trademark "Traditional Agrifood Products-TAP" (Decree of Italian Ministry of Agriculture 18 July 2000; XII Revision of 7 June 2012) indicate those food products whose methods of processing are consolidated and have been used for a period not less than 25 years. Italy recognize many traditional table olive products, thanks to the country tradition that has passed to the present unique and singular processing technologies for table olives, reflecting the different realities that characterize the different Italian regions (Table 2).

Nutritional and Sensory Quality of Table Olives 345

Tonda di Strongoli

Termite di Bitetto Ogliarola leccese Bella di Cerignola Cellina di Nardò Peranzana

Carolea

Cassanese Borgese

Pisciottana Caiazzana Vernacciola

Itrana Carboncella

Olivone Olivoncello Leccino

Raggiola Raggia

Leccino

Frantoio

Pizz'e Carroga

Sperone di gallo

Piantone di Falerone

**Region Traditional Agrifood Product (TAP) Cultivar**

olive nere infornate, olive schiacciate, olive sotto sale

**Basilicata** olive nere secche, oliva da forno di Ferrandina Majatica

oliva da mensa (mele di bitetto, ualie dolc), olive cazzate o schiacciate, olive celline di Nardò in concia tradizionale - olive in concia (ciline alla capàsa – volie alla capàsa), olive in salamoia, olive verdi, Peranzana

olive da mensa bianche e nere (olive calce e cenere, olive di Gaeta, oliva bianca di Itri, olive al fumo, olive sott'olio, olive spaccate e condite, olive in salamoia,

**Calabria** olive alla calce, olive in salamoia, olive nella giara,

da mensa di Torremaggiore

oliva vernacciola di Melizzano

**Campania** olive pisciottane schiacciate sott'olio, oliva caiazzara,

olive essiccate) , pestato di olive di Gaeta

**Molise** olive al naturale (live curvate, olie all'acqua e sale)

**Marche** olive nere marinate (olive nere strinate), salsa di olive

**Table 2.** TAP table olives (XII Revision – 2012).

**2. Preparations and styles** 

(Figure 1).

**Abruzzo** olive Intosso (olive n'dosse, olive in salamoia) Intosso

**Toscana** olive in salamoia Leccino

**Liguria** olivo taggiasca Taggiasca

**Sardegna** olive a scabecciu, olive verdi in salamoia Tonda di Cagliari

The numerous Italian olive cultivars with remarkable aptitude for processing as table olives have allowed the development of specific and diversified process technologies. The Italian table olive production is mainly concentrated in the Southern and Central regions of Italy

**Puglia** 

**Lazio** 

**Sicilia** oliva nebba, oliva nera passuluni Nocellara del Belice


**Table 1.** Table olive consumption. Data are expressed as 1000 tonnes. Source: International Olive Council (November 2011). \* provisional; \*\*previsional.


**Table 2.** TAP table olives (XII Revision – 2012).
