Many people ask if olives are a fruit or a berry. What is this plant? We will consider these and other questions in the article.
European olive or cultivated olive is a subtropical evergreen tree. The plant belongs to the genus Olive (olea) of the family Olive (Oleaceae). Since ancient times, it has been grown to produce olive oil, and is not found in the wild.
Black olives
So, is olives a fruit or a vegetable, or a berry? Olives are called the fruits of the olive tree - black olives. They are the ripe fruits removed from the branch at the end of the season. Green olives are usually harvested immature.
Olives are neither a berry, nor a fruit, nor a vegetable. In fact, they are distinguished in a separate category - the olive family.
The dangers and benefits of olives have long been debated. We almost always get canned olives, the harm and benefits of which depend on a variety of additives, including synthetic ones. Nevertheless, these fruits also have valuable qualities.
Benefit
Why do many people wonder: olives - is it a fruit or a berry? Yes, because these are very useful fruits. They improve the activity of blood vessels and the heart, strengthen the mucous membrane and cell membranes. Olives are good for the health of the stomach and liver. Monounsaturated fatty acids during the diet replenish the supply of nutrients. There is evidence of a beneficial effect of olives on the body during pregnancy. They help normalize the level of sodium salts and hemoglobin, a lack of which is observed in expectant mothers.
Olives are widely used in cosmetology, as they have anti-aging properties. This product has long been considered an aphrodisiac that has a healing effect on men's health. It contains linoleic acid, which contributes to the proper development of the children's nervous system.
Bones
Talking about whether olives are a fruit or a berry, let's look at the beneficial properties of pitted olives. In traditional medicine, they are used for healing joints. The bones for this are crushed, combined with molten wax, put on a heating pad and warmed the unhealthy areas.
Nevertheless, in addition to healing qualities, olives have some contraindications. So, in order not to harm health, with excess weight and cholecystitis, you need to limit the use of these fruits. Their energy value is high, because 100 g of olives is 145 kcal.
Cookery
Do not puzzle over what olives are - is it a fruit or a berry. It is better to find out where these delicious fruits are applied. In cooking, olives are used incessantly. Mostly, they serve as decoration of dishes and an independent snack, although they are often added to soups and salads. And stews acquire spicy bright notes with them.
Explanation
Olives are the fruit that came to us from the Mediterranean. In our country, green fruits are called olives, and black fruits are called olives, as mentioned above. In fact, there is no fruit called "olive"! Olives have only one name on our planet - "olive."
The fruit of the olive is drupe, and therefore many call it the berry. From the form in which it is used, it can be both a vegetable and a fruit. If it is part of a salad, then this is a vegetable. If it is eaten fresh, then it is a fruit.
Wood
So, we have already found out that olive is a berry. An olive tree in the Mediterranean is regarded as immortal. It grows very slowly, but lives about 2.5 thousand years, and its fruits give the body a myriad of useful and necessary substances - iron, phosphorus and potassium, vitamins B, C, E and so on. The bones of this plant are completely digested without causing any harm to the body.
Usually the height of the olive is six meters, but sometimes you can find trees twice as high. During flowering, it exudes a wonderful fragrance. Olive can be prolific and useful only after reaching the age of 20. The tree produces berries once every two years.
History and Application
Olive appeared in Greece and today it continues to be actively cultivated. The plant was imported to the USA in 1560 and was grown in Peru and Mexico. Today, olive is successfully bred in the powers of the Mediterranean, in Iraq, Georgia, Pakistan, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and India.
Olive is a dioecious plant. Therefore, they plant it in two pieces: male and female together. Olive oil is made from its fruits, which is used in the manufacture of canned fish. It contains phosphorus, iron, sugars, pectin, vitamins B, P, C. The quality of the oil is affected by the type of tree, the type of soil in which it grows, and climatic conditions. In addition, olives canned, as already mentioned, and used as a snack.
Olive wood is used to make furniture, carpentry and turning products. For medicinal purposes, bark and leaves, oil contained in the fruits are used.
In addition, olive oil is popular in soap making and perfumery. Trees provide excellent protection against landslides and soil erosion. Their root system prevents natural disasters.
Reflections
Back to the definition of olives. Are they vegetables or fruits? Judging by the stone, they are fruits, not berries. So they are fruits? What is the essence of dividing into vegetables and fruits?
It is known that the fruit is an edible, juicy fruit of a bush or tree. A variety of fruits are also certain berries. "Fruit" is usually called any fruit consisting of seeds and pulp and emerging from the ovary of a flower. Vegetables are the fruits of herbaceous plants that have soft stems uncovered by tree bark.
Botanists believe that all fruits containing seeds are fruits. They divide them into three groups:
- Fruits with juicy pulp and seeds (melons, oranges, apples, berries).
- Dry fruits (peas, nuts, beans).
- Fruits with juicy pulp and a single central large stone (peaches, plums, cherries).
A vegetable is a culinary term meaning an edible part (for example, a tuber or fruit) of a plant that is not a grain, fruit, herb, nut or spice.
In this classification, berries are classified as fruits. It is known that the stem of the olive is not grassy, which means it is clearly not a vegetable. In fact, fruits like cherries, raspberries, plums, and walnuts are drupes. It seems that olive is a drupe, not a berry.
But still, it turns out that both the berry and the drupe are fruits. So olive is a fruit. Of course, it is more correct to consider that olives are a vegetable, a fruit and a berry all rolled into one. Yet many people claim that olive is olive!