An easy methodology for frost tolerance assessment in olive cultivars.

Introduction: Olive cultivation, like other evergreen fruit crops worldwide, is limited by the occurrence of frost episodes in different times of the year, mainly in winter or early spring. Some contradictory results are reported about cultivars' response to frost, which depends on the physiological stage of the tissues (acclimated or not acclimated) when the cold or frost episode occurs. This work aimed to implement a user-friendly and reliable lab method for discerning frost tolerance.

Cultivar ideotype for intensive olive orchards: plant vigor, biomass partitioning, tree architecture and fruiting characteristics.

In order to achieve higher and earlier yield, modern olive orchards are increasingly intensified, with tree densities up to > 1500 trees hectare. With increasing tree densities, individual-tree canopy volume must be proportionally reduced. Not all cultivars are adaptable to high and very high orchard densities, because of excessive vigor and/or insufficient bearing when the canopy is pruned to a small volume.

From flower to fruit: fruit growth and development in olive ( L.)-a review.

The olive ( L.) is the most cultivated tree crop in the Mediterranean and among the most cultivated tree crops worldwide. Olive yield is obtained by the product of fruit number and fruit size; therefore, understanding fruit development, in terms of both number and size, is commercially and scientifically relevant.

Effect of elaboration process, crop year and irrigation on acrylamide levels of potential table olive varieties.

Background: Table olives are widely consumed in the Mediterranean diet, and several typical Spanish and Portuguese varieties could potentially be used as such. In order to ensure a good-quality product, the effect of different factors such as elaboration processes, irrigation conditions, crop year and their crossover interaction on acrylamide content and antioxidant compounds needs to be deeply studied.

Results: When looking through irrigation, regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) presented lower acrylamide levels than rainfed conditions for 'Cordovil de Elvas', 'Picual' and 'Verdeal Alentejana'.

Effects of Different Inter-Row Soil Management and Intra-Row Living Mulch on Spontaneous Flora, Beneficial Insects, and Growth of Young Olive Trees in Southern Italy.

Conservation agriculture (i.e., minimized soil disturbance and permanent soil covering) and living mulches represent two agroecological practices that can improve soil fertility, spontaneous flora, and beneficial insect communities.

Calcium applications throughout fruit development enhance olive quality, oil yield, and antioxidant compounds' content.

Background: Calcium is a preservative and firming agent largely used in the table olive industry. Foliar applications of calcium (as calcium chloride, CaCl ) before harvest have been proposed in other fruits to increase firmness and reduce physiological disorders or internal damage. However, there is still a shortage of information regarding the source, the concentration, the number, and the period of calcium application onto the canopy to get an effective response of olive quality.

Monitoring of acrylamide and phenolic compounds in table olive after high hydrostatic pressure and cooking treatments.

Acrylamide and phenolic compounds on both fresh and cooked olives were monitored by HPLC/MS-MS and reversed-phase-HPLC methods along different procedures: elaboration process, high hydrostatic pressure (HHP), cooking treatment and bioavailability evaluation. Acrylamide was not detected during the elaboration process and after HHP treatment. Hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, oleuropein and verbascoside were the most important phenols after HHP treatment.

Water deficit-induced changes in mesocarp cellular processes and the relationship between mesocarp and endocarp during olive fruit development.

A field experiment was conducted during two consecutive growing seasons to determine and quantify the growth response of the olive (Olea europaea L. cv. Leccino) fruit and of its component tissues to tree water status.