In Italy there are as many as 500 different types of olives, called cultivars. A considerable number if you consider that in France and Spain there are 70 and that corresponds to 42% of the world heritage. However, it should be emphasized that oil is produced through about 50 specific types of olive trees.
If a first distinction can be made between black (or purplish) olives and green olives, the color difference actually depends on the harvesting period: in autumn or winter for the black ones, in summer, when unripe, to have them green.
Types of olives can be distinguished based on parameters: size, ratio between pulp and pit, maturation, yield and organoleptic properties of the oil.
Very renowned among types of oil and fruits are: Taggiasca, Frantoio, Moresca, Ogliarola Barese, Coratina, Biancolilla e Nostrana.
The spread of some types of olive trees compared to others largely depends on the geographical context. For this reason, today the varietal presence of each territory is enhanced, rediscovering its roots. There are cases where the same types and varieties of plants are called by different names depending on the region.
In general, all types can be divided as follows: table olives, oil olives, and dual-purpose olives.
