1 - Classifying and Naming - Olive

(AD, 2016)

Since there are so many crops, one has classified all these species based on their characteristics, usage and given them names. Classification of crops, is divided by the crop's agronomic and nutritional use, its life cycle and the adaptation to the climate. This weblog post covers the taxonomy, the classification and the genetic origin of olive (trees).

The Taxonomy (The taxonomy is an organisational system where one has organised all life that have got the same genetic or morphological characteristic.) (Moncada, 2011)

• Kingdom: Plant (plantae)
• Divison: Magnoliophyta (Flowering plants)
• Class: Magnoliopsida (Dicotyledons)
• Order: Scrophulariales
• Family: Oleacease
• Genus: Olea L.
• Species: Olea europaea L. 

Crops have been given a common name and a scientific name, whereby a common name can differ nationally or even regionally. Therefore, to prevent any misunderstanding one has also given crops a universally accepted scientific name. The scientific name of olive is Olea europaea L, meaning the European olive tree that is native to the Mediterranean olive tree. (BioWeb, N.D.) (United States Department of Agriculture, N.D.) While the common name used in different countries might differ such as Aceintuna (Spanish), Olijf (Dutch), Oliv (Swedish), Olive (English), Oliva (Italian), Olivo (Portuguese).

Agronomic Crop Category

Olive can only be categorized as an oil crop, since the tree produces oil-rich seeds, which contain fatty acids. (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2010) Spain has got 4.7 million acres of olive trees under cultivation due to its suitable weather conditions and produced approximately 1.7 million tonnes of olive oil in 2014, which makes them the biggest producer of olive oil. (Wikipedia, 2017) (UCCE Sonoma County, N.D.) (Rayda Ben Ayed, 2016) Because of this massive production capacity, olive oil is an important ingredient in Spanish cuisine, and therefore used in many dishes such as in salads, dressings and cooking.

Genetic origin of the olive tree

The understanding of where the first olive tree was cultivated, is said to be history’s most overlooked mysteries. But a research, which had been published on February the 5^th 2013, might have solved the mystery.

Researchers found out that the modern-day domesticated olives all came from three places: the Near East (inclusive Cyprus), the Aegean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar. The same research claims that approximately 8,000-6,000 years ago, olive was cultivated for the first time in the Eastern Mediterranean. (Ghose, 2013) As the wild olive trees were already near the Mediterranean Sea, and due to human displacements and the selection of new cultivars olives might have been introduced in Spain. (Catherine Breton, 2009)

- The Near East covers the countries of Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and western Iran. (Foster, 2011)

- The Aegean Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea, located between Greece and Anatolia and connected to the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. (Wikipedia, 2017)

- The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait which connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. (Wikipedia, 2017)

Bibliography

AD. (2016, February 4). Italiaanse politie neemt 85.000 ton 'geverfde' olijven in beslag. Retrieved September 5, 2017, from AD: https://www.ad.nl/buitenland/italiaanse-politie-neemt-85-000-ton-geverfde-olijven-in-beslag~acd6e9f9/

BioWeb. (N.D.). Classification. Retrieved September 6, 2017, from BioWeb: http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/siewert_heat/classification.htm

Catherine Breton, J.-F. T. (2009, December). The origins of the domestication of the olive tree. Retrieved September 9, 2017, from ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40025203_The_origins_of_the_domestication_of_the_olive_tree

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2010). Classification of Crops. Retrieved September 6, 2017, from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/ess/documents/world_census_of_agriculture/appendix3_r7.pdf

Foster, C. P. (2011, April 28). Near East. Retrieved September 9, 2017, from Ancient History Encyclopedia: http://www.ancient.eu/Near_East/

Ghose, T. (2013, February 5). The Origins of the Olive Tree Revealed. Retrieved September 9, 2017, from LiveScience: https://www.livescience.com/26887-olive-tree-origins.html

Moncada, C. C. (2011). Introduction to Agronomy - Food, Crops and Environment. In C. C. Moncada, (Introduction to Agronomy, Sheaffer) (p. 97). Retrieved September 6, 2017

Rayda Ben Ayed, H. B. (2016, January 30). OGDD (Olive Genetic Diversity Database): a microsatellite markers' genotypes database of worldwide olive trees for cultivar identification and virgin olive oil traceability. Retrieved September 8, 2017, from NCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4733328/

UCCE Sonoma County. (N.D.). http://cesonoma.ucdavis.edu/files/27191.pdf. Retrieved September 6, 2017, from UCCE Sonoma County: http://cesonoma.ucdavis.edu/files/27191.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture. (N.D.). Classification for Kingdom Plantae Down to Species Olea europaea L. Retrieved september 6, 2017, from USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service: https://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=display&classid=OLEU

Wikipedia. (2017, September 5). Aegean Sea. Retrieved September 9, 2017, from Simple English Wikipedia: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegean_Sea

Wikipedia. (2017, Augustus 31). Olive oil. Retrieved September 6, 2017, from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil

Wikipedia. (2017, September 7). Strait of Gibraltar. Retrieved September 9, 2017, from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Gibraltar