Properties of canned olives
Nutritional value and composition | Vitamins | Minerals
How much does canned olives cost (average price for 1 jar)?
Moscow and Moscow region.
60 rub.
Canned olives are most often served not only as an independent snack, but also used in the preparation of all kinds of salads and other dishes. The process of preserving olives helps to preserve the consumer and taste characteristics of the fruit for quite a long time, as well as to rid them of natural bitterness. It seems that it won’t take much time to find canned olives on the shelves of domestic stores.
Due to the fact that olives are still unripe fruits with a bitter and not very pleasant taste, they are preserved. On an industrial scale, to get rid of this taste, olives are soaked for a long time and then preserved. At the same time, there are different types of canned olives - natural (with and without pits), as well as with various fillings.
Experts do not recommend buying canned olives with fillers, in particular with anchovy paste. The fact is that to make such pasta, the entire fish with its entrails is used, so over time the filling begins to deteriorate. That is why the manufacturer is forced to add very high concentrations of preservatives. Citric, lactic, ascorbic - as many as three acids per small jar. After tasting these canned olives, even the healthiest person can feel stomach pain.
The safest filling for canned olives is the pit. It is in the seed that olive oil, which is so beneficial for our body, is found. Therefore, if the fruits are preserved with the pit, this oil gradually goes into the tissues of the olives and saturates them.
Choose and buy olives
From which countries is this product brought today?
If we talk about Russia, then mainly from Spain and Italy. But there are many nuances and pitfalls here. So, for example, a country like Tunisia has giant plantations of olive trees, but it is unlikely to see olives or oil from Tunisia on the shelves. Or Syria. Even despite the war that is going on there, according to recent statistics, this country is one of the ten countries producing olives and oil. Recently you can see products from Greece.
Note: Consumers should be cautioned against purchasing olives by weight. Weighed olives in trays are in constant contact with air. And not with the most sterile one. After all, a store is a place where the microclimate is constantly changing: drafts, people (not always healthy), contact with the hands (even with gloves) of the seller. All this will inevitably sooner or later lead to spoilage of olives, provided that it is a natural product. To prevent them from spoiling, additional preservatives are necessarily added to them to prevent putrefactive processes.
Is it true that pitted olives are less healthy than pitted olives?
Yes it is. Firstly, the fewer optional technological treatments a product undergoes, the more beneficial its properties. If we talk about olives, then the maximum amount of useful substances is contained in the pulp around the pit. The seed removal technology is not so advanced as to remove only the seed from the berry. Of course, part of the most useful pulp of the fruit is also captured. In addition, experts say that olives with pits retain their flavor better.
What color, taste, smell do the right olives have?
It's easiest with color. If these are green olives (in terms of terminology), then their color will be olive. If these are black olives (again, in terms of terminology), then their color will be brown. Moreover, the berries can have different degrees of shade intensity. Also, the color will not be uniform. Almost like apples. Some barrels are lighter, some are darker. Often, many varieties have characteristic speckles. And certainly, with rare exceptions, olives cannot be black. If you bought black olives, then they are dyed.
How can olives be made cheaper in production?
There are many ways. There are well-known ones. There are those that manufacturers are in no hurry to talk about. Here we must start with the fact that olive production is a very long process. A picked berry is not an apple - it’s ripe and eat it. A freshly picked olive is very bitter. This is due to the fact that it contains a substance that has a very complex name - ocuropein glycoside
.
It takes a lot of time to get rid of this bitterness. From several weeks to several months. Sometimes almost up to a year. It is clear that from the point of view of industrial production this is not profitable. But if you “help a little” by treating the olives with special preparations, then the cooking time for the olives can be reduced significantly.
We are still talking about normal raw materials. In Italy, for example, in the last few years, many olive fields have been damaged due to the epidemic. Those. the trees are sick. These are quite vast areas. According to the regulations, there must be a quarantine zone around contaminated fields. These are also territories from which crops should also not be collected. But according to official data, the volume of olive production in Italy has not decreased so significantly. Draw your own conclusions...
What makes up the price of olives?
From several components. Firstly, the cost of the full agricultural cycle. Moreover, it can vary greatly from country to country. So in Spain, the profitability of growing olives is high. But in France, it (compared to Spain) is several times higher. It is clear that French farmers find it difficult to compete. There are even special government programs being introduced to support the industry, and programs are also being developed that help remove French products from direct competition. For example, there is an emphasis on environmentally friendly production. And of course production technology. The dependence, unfortunately, is simple. More chemicals - cheaper product. True, its quality does not improve from this.
How many olives should there be in the jar, how much filling?
It all depends on the caliber of olives. The larger they are, the fewer of them can fit into a jar of a certain size. It should be said that olives, even from the same tree, can differ in size. They are sorted at the factory. Those. It is unlikely that there will be both large and small olives in one jar. Only one size. In any case, the entire jar should be tightly filled with olives. But the entire remaining space is filled with brine. This principle is easy to verify if the jar is transparent. But if you buy a tin and open it, you can sometimes see that the olives are literally floating in the liquid. It would be possible to add a dozen more berries.
Note:
The size of the olives is indicated in a very original way.
This is the ratio of the caliber of the berry and the number of berries that fit into a certain volume. The caliber is indicated by two numbers separated by a slash or a straight line. These numbers mean the minimum and maximum number of berries in one kilogram of dry product. Accordingly, the lower the number, the larger the olives will be inside the jar. The standard caliber for small olives can be considered 280/320 or 240/260; for large varieties this figure is usually 70/90. Depending on the country of origin, the size scale can have up to 15 positions .
The benefits of canned olives
The ideal composition of the product, which contains the benefits of canned olives, is the olives themselves, water, salt and citric acid, which neutralizes the natural bitterness of the fruit. In addition, find the amount of fat on a jar of canned olives - in one hundred grams of a quality product there should be at least thirty of them. The calorie content of canned olives is usually 145 kcal per 100 grams.
Olives and olive oil contain fatty acids that have the ability to transform cholesterol into compounds that quickly dissolve and are excreted from the human body. In addition, the benefits of canned olives are obvious due to the fact that with moderate consumption they have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, promoting better digestion of food.
One cannot fail to mention calcium, which is found not only in fresh fruits, but also in canned olives. It has a positive effect on bone tissue, and an element such as manganese strengthens muscle and connective tissue, which is important for human health.
How are olives different from black olives?
Are olives and black olives the same thing?
Only in Russia the green fruits of the olive tree are called “olives”, and the black ones are called “olives”. In fact, they are the same fruit. It's all a matter of maturity. In October, dense and elastic olives with light, almost white flesh are removed from the trees. They have already reached the standard size (caliber) for their variety, and the color varies from green to straw yellow. In November, the olive groves turn every shade of pink, interspersed with light chestnut. December is rich in maroon, reddish-black, dark purple and dark chestnut colors. The olives are already completely ripe. These are the most expensive and high-quality olives, which differ from others in their dark pulp and the fact that they are not stored for long. There are also green olives that have undergone special processing and turned black, but know that no matter the color, they are still olives.
There are table olives and technical olives. What's the difference?
Dining fruits are characterized by juicy, tender flesh and easily separated seeds. They are used for preservation, both in pure form (with or without pits), and for stuffing with nuts, peppers, and lemons. Technical olives are smaller and tougher. They are used to produce olive oil.
How do green olives turn black? Is chemicals used for this? Is it safe for the body?
Green olives harvested in October are subject to oxygen oxidation after harvesting and grading. As a result of this procedure, which lasts from 7 to 10 days, the olives turn out black. Such fruits are called Black Oxidized Olives , that is, “black olives oxidized by oxygen.”
To stabilize the color, iron gluconate, food additive E579, is added to the brine. Its maximum permissible level in the product is 150 mg/kg. E585, iron lactate, also performs a similar function. Both additives are approved for use in food products.
However, it is easy to calculate that 150g of olives (the dry weight of olives in one standard 300g jar of canned fruit) contains 22.5mg of iron, which is more than the recommended daily value. Keep this in mind when choosing olives in the store .
And if you like and taste black olives , then try to buy expensive, fully ripened fruits, which are colored dark by nature itself. They have a more elegant and rich taste and juicy, non-porous pulp. In addition, the liquid in which they are found is clear and almost colorless.
There are olives with pits and some without. Which ones are better?
It is believed that it is the pulp near the seed that greatly influences the natural taste. In addition, pitted olives are much more saturated with brine, which means they develop new flavor notes. If you want to try a quality product, then your choice is whole olives. Seedless fruits are best used in salads and appetizers that use rich-tasting dressings rather than olive oil. On the other hand, it is in the seeds that substances harmful to the body accumulate when the product has a long shelf life. Therefore, it is better to use pitted olives as food as early as possible.
How not to make a mistake when choosing canned olives in the store? What should you pay attention to?
1. Olives are sold in glass and tin jars. Glass, of course, is more expensive. Glass containers give you the opportunity to evaluate the product before purchasing. The surface of the olive should be smooth and without strong, sloppy damage where the pit was removed.
2. Ripe black olives are duller, without gloss, than “colored” ones. They may also have color spots, since natural fruits have every right to do so.
3. The size of the fruits in one package (jar) must be the same. By the way, by the caliber of olives, like shrimp, you can estimate their quantity in one kilogram. The lower the numbers, the better, because these olives are large and heavy. The maximum size is 60/70, the minimum is 360/400. Although there are exceptions: in Greece there are excellent varieties with a size of 70/90.
4. There should be no rust on the tin can. If it is present, this is a signal that storage conditions have been violated, which means the olives may be spoiled.
5. You can evaluate the quality of olives during the first visual inspection at home. The seed should not fall out of the fruit. If this happens, then the olive is stale.
There are a lot of stuffed olives in stores. What fillers are the most popular? And how does the stuffing process work?
The most accessible and cheapest are olives stuffed with garlic and anchovies. The most expensive ones are with almonds, in which case the filling turns out to be more expensive than the olive itself. Usually, when stuffing, the pits are removed mechanically, and the olives are filled with filling manually.
There are many varieties of olives, so fakes are possible. How is the varietal of a particular olive tree determined?
There are varieties that differ greatly from each other: in size, oil content, taste, chemical characteristics, ripening time, and the ratio of seed to pulp. It's easier with them. And there are also varieties that are so widespread and popular that it is quite difficult to keep track of their modifications in different geographical locations. It is these varieties that are susceptible to falsification. Now in Spain and Morocco there are special banks, World Olive Germplasm Banks, where DNA samples of all the world's olive varieties are stored. The authenticity of a product can now be determined by conducting genetic analysis.
In addition, there are varieties of olives, such as kalamata, that have been awarded the status of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), that is, they have a precise geographical reference to the place of origin.
All kinds of preserves are often prepared from table olives: topnade, pates, spreads, etc. Are there any specific varieties of olives that are used for this purpose? And what regulations govern the production of these products?
There are no specific varieties that are used only for preserves. In this case, of course, olives are selected that have a lot of tasty, fleshy pulp, for example “gaeta”. Today there are no laws regulating the production of preserves and each manufacturer is free to choose ingredients and recipes.
Types of olives and their prices
There are only two varieties of this product, which differ in color. The black version is a ripe fruit, the green one is unripe. You can also divide them into three subgroups:
- Oilseed – this variety has a high oil content. Accordingly, oil is made from it. Sold for 420-460 rubles / kg ;
- Combined. A rare species, sold for 390-420 rubles per 1 kg;
- Tableware or canning. These fruits are best suited for canning or eating fresh. Found in Moscow for 420-450 rubles/kg .
The color and shades of olives in jars (and olives) depend not on the variety, but on the degree of ripeness and harvesting technology. The fruits are harvested at various stages of maturity from October to January. Therefore, the following division can be made:
- In October the product is green.
- In November - white.
- In December - black.
- In January, dried or dried versions are obtained.
Black fruits can be of two varieties:
- Black. A conditional name, since a completely mature product rarely has a truly black color. The skin may have different shades.
- Black oxidized. Unripe fruits are used for production. The final color can be achieved through oxygenation.
Canned products are divided into the following subtypes:
- Whole, with bone.
- No pit.
- Broken, pressed.
- Cut.
- Stuffed with paprika, garlic, fish and some other products.
