Description

The olive tree is a native to the Mediterranean region. It has spread across the world over time. But still all the major commercial producers of Olive Oil are the Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Greece and Spain in Europe, Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon in Asia as well as Tunisia and Algeria in Africa.

Olive trees grow in the light soil and reasonably warm weather. Rich soil as well as very cold weather is not suitable for it. Once grown, the trees last for centuries and remain productive too. So, the farmers should just take care of grown up trees and prune them correctly to keep reaping harvests for decades. The fruits are harvested around the autumn or winter in most cases.

As discussed earlier, olive trees are native to the Mediterranean region and evidences suggesting that it was consumed even by prehistoric people. Archaeological evidences suggest domestication of the species in the Asia Minor and the earliest known containers of Olive Oil in Greece date back to 3500 BC. So, the ancient civilizations of the region learnt its benefits and usage quite early.