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Olive Tree Cultivation and Olive Fruit Ripening: Physiological and Nutritional Management

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A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Horticultural and Floricultural Crops".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 23038

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Georgia Ouzounidou

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Guest Editor

Institute of Food Technology, Hellenic Agricultural Organization- DEMETER, S. Venizelou 1 Str. 141 23 Lycovrissi, Attica, Greece
Interests: biotechnology; bioenergetic; chlorophyll fluorescence; environmental biology; fruit ripening biology; plant physiolgy; vegetable and fruit quality characteristics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Irrigation management and application of fertilizers and plant protection products in olive (Olea europaea) growth, is still not completely clarified, but, nowadays, it is essential, to guarantee sustainable production. Climate change may affect the area of land suitable for olive cultivation and change production levels, thus causing serious damage to the economically-relevant and highly-productive olive grove agro-ecosystem. Biotic and abiotic factors characterize the current cultivated locations and predict the current and potential distribution of these locations.

The appearance, colour and main biochemical components of olive fruits and olive oil are influenced by the fruit ripening stage. Olive fruit ripening involves a combination of physiological and biochemical changes influenced by several environmental and cultural conditions.Agronomic and technological factors, including olive variety, irrigation rate, pest attack, fruit diseases, and harvest time, affect fruit and oil quality. In parallel, the valorization of other by-products, like olive leaves, is worth addressing.

This Special Issue of Agronomy welcomes contributions (reviews, original research papers, short communications) that may aid in the evaluation of relationships between tree cultivation practices, variety origin, fruit ripening procedures and chemical composition.

Submissions may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

Genetic characterization;
Cultivation practices;
Plant protection;
Climate change;
Tree physiology;
Photosynthesis;
Table olives;
Biochemical composition;
Ripening process;
Quality characteristics.

Dr. Georgia Ouzounidou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

genetic characterization
cultivation practices
plant protection
climate change
tree physiology
photosynthesis
table olives
biochemical composition
ripening process
quality characteristics

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 2923 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Cultivar Determines Fatty Acids and Phenolics Dynamics for Olive Fruit and Oil in Super-High-Density Orchards

by Juan J. Polari, Lauren M. Crawford and Selina C. Wang

Agronomy 2021, 11(2), 313; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11020313 - 10 Feb 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2622

Abstract

The dynamics of maturation index, water and oil concentrations, and total phenols in olive fruit, together with fatty acids and total phenols content in olive oil, was studied as a function of time after flowering for super-high-density ‘Arbequina’, ‘Arbosana’ and ‘Koroneiki’ using data collected in three seasons. Oil concentration increased linearly from the middle of August until reaching a plateau by the end of November for all three cultivars, with ‘Koroneiki’ (45.7 g/100 g) and ‘Arbosana’ (45.4 g/100 g) showing higher maximum oil concentration than ‘Arbequina’ (41.8 g/100 g). While total phenols in the fruit decreased linearly during the harvest for all three cultivars, phenolics in oil peaked at 180 days after flowering (400 mg/kg) for ‘Arbequina’ and at 160 days after flowering (600 mg/kg) for ‘Koroneiki’. For ‘Arbosana’, total phenols in oil decreased linearly with a maximum of 400 mg/kg for early harvest oils. Fatty acid dynamics was largely affected by genotype, with ‘Arbequina’ displaying the largest variation in fatty acid concentrations along the season. ‘Koroneiki’ presented the highest values of oleic acid (73.0–77.1%), followed by ‘Arbosana’ (70.2–72.4%) and ‘Arbequina’ (64.4–74.0%). Results presented here are useful for growers to make planting and harvesting decisions, for producers to understand the differences in oil made from the most common super-high-density cultivars during the harvest seasons, and for regulators to consider legal standards for authentic olive oil. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Olive Tree Cultivation and Olive Fruit Ripening: Physiological and Nutritional Management)

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17 pages, 704 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Contribution of Agro-Environmental Factors to Yield and Plant Diversity of Olive Grove Ecosystems (Olea europaea L.) in the Mediterranean Landscape

by Alexandra D. Solomou and Athanassios Sfougaris

Agronomy 2021, 11(1), 161; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11010161 - 16 Jan 2021

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3186

Abstract

Olive cultivation (Olea europaea L.) is one of the most significant sources of income for agricultural areas in the Mediterranean basin, and the olive oil industry as well as the environmental protection are an important part of the Greek agricultural sector. Generalized Linear Models were applied in order to investigate the predictive strength of several biodiversity components and agro-environmental factors for yield and herbaceous plant diversity (species richness) in organic and conventional olive groves of Greece. Our study highlights an increase in yields of organic olive groves by increasing manure application and the earthworms’ density. In the conventional olive groves, yields increase by increasing soil organic matter and the application of inorganic fertilizer N. Also, the herbaceous plant species richness increases with increasing the Shannon diversity index of herbaceous plants, the field area, the application of organic fertilizer K and the manure in organic olive groves. As for the conventional ones, herbaceous plant species richness increases with the increase of the application of inorganic fertilizer N. Moreover, some plant species could be regarded as indicators of the differently managed olive groves. Conclusively, this study contributes to the integration of biodiversity conservation with ecologically sustainable agriculture and conservation of agroecosystem. Finally, it could be utilized as a decision and management tool to the scientific and agricultural community reinforcing the knowledge about the agro-environmental impact in olive grove management systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Olive Tree Cultivation and Olive Fruit Ripening: Physiological and Nutritional Management)

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13 pages, 1026 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fruit Ripening, Antioxidants and Oil Composition in Koroneiki Olives (Olea europea L.) at Different Maturity Indices

by Mina Kafkaletou, Georgia Ouzounidou and Eleni Tsantili

Agronomy 2021, 11(1), 122; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11010122 - 10 Jan 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2785

Abstract

Harvest timing of oil olives is important for oil quality. Concerning the specific features of each cultivar, physiological and quality characteristics during ripening of Koroneiki olives were investigated in two successive years, A and B, from trees on full production. In A, olives were harvested at maturity indices (MIs) 0.9, 1.4, 2.1 and 4, while in B at MIs 1.1, 3.8 and 6.9. MIs ~1, ~4 and ~7 corresponded to green, red and dark purple peel in olives, respectively. Peel color parameters (L*, h° and C*), respiration and ethylene production rates were evaluated along with phenolic compounds and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in olives of both crop years. Additionally, oil composition and a-tocopherol content were examined in olives harvested in years A and B, respectively. During fruit development, respiration and ethylene productions rates, hydroxytyrosol concentration and linoleic acid increased, while TAC, oleuropein, luteolin-7-O-glucoside, linolenic acid and α-tocopherol values decreased. Positive correlations were found among the attributes determined in both crop years that had a similar course of change during ripening, and vice versa, which could be also related to harvest timing and to quality traits of olive products. At MI ~4, at least all determined variables corresponded to oil of high quality. Practically, an early harvest might result in an olive fruit rich in antioxidants and therefore in oil production of high quality, high stability during storage and long self-life. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Olive Tree Cultivation and Olive Fruit Ripening: Physiological and Nutritional Management)

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15 pages, 1639 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Classification Binary Trees with SSR Allelic Sizes: Combining Regression Trees with Genetic Molecular Data in Order to Characterize Genetic Diversity between Cultivars of Olea europaea L.

by Evangelia V. Avramidou, Georgios C. Koubouris, Panos V. Petrakis, Katerina K. Lambrou, Ioannis T. Metzidakis and Andreas G. Doulis

Agronomy 2020, 10(11), 1662; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy10111662 - 28 Oct 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1791

Abstract

During recent centuries, cultivated olive has evolved to one of the major tree crops in the Mediterranean Basin and lately expanded to America, Australia, and Asia producing an estimated global average value of over USD 18 billion. A long-term research effort has been established with the long-term goal to preserve biodiversity, characterize agronomic behavior, and ultimately utilize genotypes suitable for cultivation in areas of unfavorable environmental conditions. In the present study, a combination of 10 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers with the classification binary tree (CBT) analysis was evaluated as a method for discriminating genotypes within cultivated olive trees, while Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata was also used as an outgroup. The 10 SSR loci employed in this study, were highly polymorphic and gave reproducible amplification patterns for all accessions analyzed. Genetic analysis indicated that the group of SSR loci employed was highly informative. A further analysis revealed that two sub populations and pairwise relatedness gave insight about synonymies. In conclusion, the CBT method which employed SSR allelic sizes proved to be a valuable tool in order to distinguish olive cultivars over the traditional unweighted pair group method with the arithmetic mean (UPGMA) algorithm. Further research which will combine phenotyping characterization of olive germplasm will have the potential to enable the utilization of existing, and breeding of new, superior cultivars. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Olive Tree Cultivation and Olive Fruit Ripening: Physiological and Nutritional Management)

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Review

Jump to: Research

26 pages, 2745 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

An Overview of Olive Cultivation in Turkey: Botanical Features, Eco-Physiology and Phytochemical Aspects

by Munir Ozturk, Volkan Altay, Tuba Mert Gönenç, Bengu Turkyilmaz Unal, Recep Efe, Eren Akçiçek and Andleeb Bukhari

Agronomy 2021, 11(2), 295; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11020295 - 05 Feb 2021

Cited by 46 | Viewed by 11149

Abstract

Global climate change, especially global warming, is affecting olive production efficiency as well as its product quality. The size and water content of fruit varies depending on the olive fruit yield along with the region, climate, and geographical position as well as agricultural applications. Anthropogenic activities also affect its ecology to a great extent. The plant prefers areas with mild winters and short rainy seasons but is facing long and dry summers, sunny habitats, well drained dry, poor, loamy, clayey-loamy, slightly calcareous, pebbly and nutrient-rich soils, with a pH around 6–8. It is resistant to drought but suffers much from harsh winters and air pollutants, which affect its production. Although the olive plant tolerates temperatures between −7 °C to 40 °C, the optimum temperature demanded for growth, development, and fruit yield is 15–25 °C. The annual precipitation demand lies between 700–850 mm. An important part of the composition of its fruit consists of water and oil or the “liquid gold”. Main ingredients are additionally fat-soluble vitamins, minerals, organic sugars, and phenolics. Phenolic substances are responsible for many beneficial health effects as well as the taste and aroma of olive fruit. Oleuropein stands out due to its inhibition of oxidation of low density lipoproteins and its hypoglycemic and cholesterolemic effects. It is also a component that protects the olive tree against various parasites and diseases, one of the reasons why olive is recorded as the “immortal tree”. Olive trees are cultivated in different regions of Turkey. A series of changes occur in morphological, physiological, and biochemical features to overcome different types of stress. In this review, information about the botanical aspects, eco-physiology, and pharmaceutical features of the oil, fruit, and leaves has been evaluated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Olive Tree Cultivation and Olive Fruit Ripening: Physiological and Nutritional Management)

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