Preface

Among cultivated plants, the olive (*Olea europaea* L.) is the sixth most important oil crop in the world, presently spreading from the Mediterranean region of origin to new production areas, due to the beneficial nutritional properties of olive oil and to its high economic value. Olive oil has favourable nutritional properties, and consequently, its consumption, which was traditionally restricted to the Mediterranean area (77% of the world production area), is increasing worldwide (mainly the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan). Some olive varieties are cultivated specifically for table consumption, but the majority are used for oil extraction. Based on estimates by the FAO 2010, Plant Production and Protection Division Olive Germplasm, the world's olive germplasm contains more than 2,629 different varieties, with many local varieties and ecotypes contributing to this wealth.

Olive growing in Italy is very important, but there is still a high degree of confusion regarding the genetic identity of olive cultivars. The problem of characterizing the olive tree germplasm is complicated not only by the wealth of its genetic patrimony, but also by the absence of reference standards and a well defined system of nomenclature that is free from homonymy and synonymy. Only recently, some Italian research projects (*i.e.* COLLEZIONI; CERTOLIO; GERMOLI; OLEA; OLVIVA; RGV-FAO and RIOM projects) have raised the issue of the "standard reference variety" are trying to achieve a "standard certificate" for each variety present in different Italian regions. The extent of this diversity has important implications for both the adaptation of varieties to their local environment and for the optimization of the agronomical performance of these varieties under a given set of environmental conditions. For example, every initiative promoting olive cultivation should consider the potential repercussions of such action on any local olive varieties. Every region should preserve its own plant material in order to safeguard both the adaptation and productivity of the species and the unique characteristics of the region's olive oil. However, the study of intra-varietal polymorphisms is important since they may have traits that, although not considered important in the past, might be important to meet the challenges of modern olive growing (*i.e.* resistance to low temperatures, salinity tolerance, etc.).

The systematic collection of Italian olive varieties for deposit into specific catalogue fields began in Italy in the 1980s. A similar international collection was started in 1997 by the Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura – centro di ricerca

#### XII Preface

per l'OLIvicoltura e l'industria olearia (Agricultural Research Council - Agricultural Research Council - Olive Growing and Oil Industry Research Centre, CRA-OLI) in Italy. Collection entailed the following steps: a survey of the territory, individuation, basic characterization, and introduction into the germplasm field. To date, roughly 500 varieties have been introduced into the CRA-OLI collection, and this list has been published (web site http://apps3.fao.org/wiews/olive/olcoll2.jsp).

Preface IX

Italy

**Innocenzo Muzzalupo** 

Agricultural Research Council -

Olive Growing and Oil Industry Research Centre, Rende (CS),

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the authors who contributed to this book by sharing their valuable works with us. A special thanks to the reviewers who have used their valuable time in the improvement of the chapters. Finally, thanks to the publishing house that provided me with great professionalism in the realization of

the book.

A useful olive germplasm collection also requires an organizational system devoid of homonymy, synonymy and mislabeling so that a reliable classification of all varieties can be achieved without unnecessary confusion. Recent research has focused on using morphological, bio-agronomical and molecular markers to characterize and identify olive varieties. The identification of varieties by using molecular markers is a crucial aim of modern horticulture, because such a technique would greatly facilitate breeding programmers and germplasm collection management.

The book "Olive Germplasm" was born from the idea of gathering and evaluating research results obtained on the growing of olive trees in the CRA-OLI collection field. In fact, after more than 20 years from the planting of the olive trees in the collection field, a quantity of validated data was obtained which was considered to be sufficient for the realization of this work which contains the results of innovative research on its main products such as olive oil and table olives.

The book is divided into two parts: *I*) *the olive cultivation, table olive and olive oil industry in Italy* and *II*) *Italian catalogue of olive varieties*.

This book highlights the importance of studying the distribution, characterization and valorization of genetic diversity for better exploitation of olive resources and for the design of breeding programs. In addition, it reports some important aspects about the current state of the art in the chemistry, analysis and quality assessment of table olives and of olive oil and its minor constituents, extraction of olive oil from the fruits, water treatment, and innovative approaches for the production of olive oil based products. It also discusses bioavailability, pharmacological and other properties of bioactive ingredients in the light of new evidence on the composition of olive oil and table olives. Furthermore, it addresses some aspects related to biotechnology and other technologies to retain optimum levels of such bioactive ingredients in the various olive oil forms and to protect the environment from olive mill waste products.

The purpose of this book is to provide a glimpse into the table olive and olive oil industry by presenting the thoughts of some of the scientists who are engaged in the development of new tools and ideas used to improve the quality of products, often from very different perspectives.

I hope and trust that the information in this report will be used as the basis for policy and technical decisions to strengthen national efforts to conserve and utilize the treasures incorporated in the world's plant genetic resources to address the urgent problems faced by agriculture today and tomorrow.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the authors who contributed to this book by sharing their valuable works with us. A special thanks to the reviewers who have used their valuable time in the improvement of the chapters. Finally, thanks to the publishing house that provided me with great professionalism in the realization of the book.

VIII Preface

per l'OLIvicoltura e l'industria olearia (Agricultural Research Council - Agricultural Research Council - Olive Growing and Oil Industry Research Centre, CRA-OLI) in Italy. Collection entailed the following steps: a survey of the territory, individuation, basic characterization, and introduction into the germplasm field. To date, roughly 500 varieties have been introduced into the CRA-OLI collection, and this list has been

A useful olive germplasm collection also requires an organizational system devoid of homonymy, synonymy and mislabeling so that a reliable classification of all varieties can be achieved without unnecessary confusion. Recent research has focused on using morphological, bio-agronomical and molecular markers to characterize and identify olive varieties. The identification of varieties by using molecular markers is a crucial aim of modern horticulture, because such a technique would greatly facilitate breeding

The book "Olive Germplasm" was born from the idea of gathering and evaluating research results obtained on the growing of olive trees in the CRA-OLI collection field. In fact, after more than 20 years from the planting of the olive trees in the collection field, a quantity of validated data was obtained which was considered to be sufficient for the realization of this work which contains the results of innovative research on its

The book is divided into two parts: *I*) *the olive cultivation, table olive and olive oil industry* 

This book highlights the importance of studying the distribution, characterization and valorization of genetic diversity for better exploitation of olive resources and for the design of breeding programs. In addition, it reports some important aspects about the current state of the art in the chemistry, analysis and quality assessment of table olives and of olive oil and its minor constituents, extraction of olive oil from the fruits, water treatment, and innovative approaches for the production of olive oil based products. It also discusses bioavailability, pharmacological and other properties of bioactive ingredients in the light of new evidence on the composition of olive oil and table olives. Furthermore, it addresses some aspects related to biotechnology and other technologies to retain optimum levels of such bioactive ingredients in the various olive

The purpose of this book is to provide a glimpse into the table olive and olive oil industry by presenting the thoughts of some of the scientists who are engaged in the development of new tools and ideas used to improve the quality of products, often

I hope and trust that the information in this report will be used as the basis for policy and technical decisions to strengthen national efforts to conserve and utilize the treasures incorporated in the world's plant genetic resources to address the urgent

oil forms and to protect the environment from olive mill waste products.

published (web site http://apps3.fao.org/wiews/olive/olcoll2.jsp).

programmers and germplasm collection management.

main products such as olive oil and table olives.

*in Italy* and *II*) *Italian catalogue of olive varieties*.

from very different perspectives.

problems faced by agriculture today and tomorrow.

**Innocenzo Muzzalupo** 

Agricultural Research Council - Olive Growing and Oil Industry Research Centre, Rende (CS), Italy

© 2012 Muzzalupo, 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 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

**Olive Germplasm –**

Innocenzo Muzzalupo

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/51719

contributing to this richness.

**1. Introduction** 

**Italian Catalogue of Olive Varieties** 

It is of great importance to evaluate and characterize the existing genetic diversity of the crop species, mainly for those, such as the case of olive, which still have a well preserved great cultivar patrimony, in spite of the disturbance of the environments where they are cultivated. This issue is of particular importance in areas where a number of varieties show

The genetic patrimony of the Mediterranean Basin's olive trees are very rich and is characterised by an abundance of varieties. Based on estimates by the FAO Plant Production and Protection Division Olive Germplasm (FAO, 2010), the world's olive germplasm contains more than 2.629 different varieties, with many local varieties and ecotypes

The problem of olive germplasm classification is not only complicated by the richness of its genetic patrimony, but also by the absence of reference standards and by the confusion regarding the cultivar names, with numerous cases of homonymy (one denomination for

The Italian olive germplasm is estimated to include about 800 cultivars, most of them landraces vegetatively propagated at a farm level since ancient times. The number is probably underestimated because of the scarce information on minor local varieties widespread in the different olive growing areas. The study of these less-common cultivars is important because they may have traits not considered important in the past but necessary to meet the challenges of modern olive growing. Low vigour, resistance to low temperatures, salinity tolerance, adaptability to low pruning systems, late ripening and fatty-acid content are important traits for olive or olive oil quality. Additionally,

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

several genotypes) and synonymy (one genotype with several denominations).

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

adaptation to the difficult local environmental conditions.
