Which is good and bad olive?
Mediterranean souvenir and symbol of peace
Olive is called “Olive” in English and there are approximately two thousand types of it known in the world, but only about 110 types of it are cultivated in Iran. Of course, people are only familiar with 10 to 12 types of this fruit. In the past, olives were mostly cultivated in the Mediterranean, North Africa, Southeast Asia, North to South China, Scotland, and Eastern Australia. Its origin was probably the Mediterranean region and from there it spread to other parts of the world.
Olives usually start to flower at the beginning of summer. Then, its fruit is formed gradually and reaches the harvest stage in late summer. At first, the olive is pale green and gradually darkens to a completely dark green color at the end of autumn. It is interesting to know that the olive was a symbol of peace and wealth in the past. The United Nations flag also uses an olive branch as a symbol of peace.
Pay attention to good black olives
Since it is expensive to import original black olives from the countries that produce them, some people process ordinary green olives with iron compounds to make them black. Then they sell this product at a high price. Determining whether black olives are genuine or fake is a difficult task and requires special laboratories. Therefore, you should never use black and bulk olives without the permission of the Ministry of Health. These olives not only have less nutritional value, but are also harmful to health.
The best type of olive
The best type of olive is the ripe green one. Olives have different colors including green, yellow, red, purple and black, the most important of which are green and black olives.
Contrary to popular belief, black olives are not obtained from ripening green olives, and the types of these two olives are different. The amount of oil and fat in black olives is slightly higher than that of green olives; Therefore, it has a stronger taste and smell and more calories and somewhat more nutritional value. Each black olive has 7 calories and each green olive has 5 calories.
Pitted olives have a more expensive price, but because the center is empty, the olive tissue stays in contact with salt water and preservatives for a longer time. As a result, it loses its original taste and becomes soft and stained after a while. So it is better to buy olives with kernels.