Olive oil has long been valued by people across the world for its benefits in health, beauty and nutrition. Growing awareness of its nutritional qualities mean there is increasing demand for olive oil and olive oil products. This book reviews current studies of olives and olive oil, including discussions of biodiversity, genetics, cultivation and health properties. It is divided into four parts. The first part considers the genetics of grapevines and olives in the Mediterranean, including discussions of wild populations and the characterization of grapevines using genetic markers. The second part catalogues olive varieties in Italy. The third part is made up of chapters discussing aspects of cultivation and industrial production in Italy, such as microbiological qualities, traceability and nutritional value. The final part is more biological and biochemical in focus, reviewing issues such as microbial biotechnology in the olive oil industry and the evaluation of the quality of olives and olive oil by infrared spectroscopy. The book will be of interest to food scientists and nutritional scientists as well as to researchers with an interest in plant genetics.
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