Olives are a fruit or a berry? Description

Many people ask, olives are a fruit or a berry. What is this plant? These and other issues we will consider in the article.

Olive is a European or olive cultivated - a subtropical evergreen tree. The plant belongs to the genus Olive (olea) of the olive family (Oleaceae). Since ancient times, it is grown to produce olive oil, does not occur in the wild.

Black olives

So, olives are a fruit or a vegetable, or a berry? Olives are called olives - black olives. They are the ripe fruit, taken off the branch at the end of the season. As a rule, green olives are harvested immature.

Olives are neither a berry, nor fruit, nor a vegetable. In fact, they are isolated in a separate category - a family of olives.

The dangers and benefits of olives have long been debated. We almost always buy canned olives, the harm and benefit of which depends on a variety of additives, among which may be synthetic ones. And yet these fruits also have valuable qualities.

Benefit

Why do many people ask themselves: are olives a fruit or a berry? Because they are very useful fruits. They improve the activity of blood vessels and heart, strengthen mucous membranes and cells. Olives are useful for the health of the stomach and liver. Fatty monounsaturated acids during the diet make up for the supply of nutrients. There is evidence of the beneficial effect of olives on the body during pregnancy. They help to normalize the level of sodium salts and hemoglobin, the lack of which is observed in expectant mothers.

Olives are widely used in cosmetology, as they have rejuvenating properties. This product is the oldest ever considered an aphrodisiac, which has a beneficial effect on the health of men. It contains linoleic acid, which contributes to the proper development of the child's nervous system.

Bones

Arguing about whether olives are a fruit or a berry, let's consider the useful properties of olives with bones. In traditional medicine, they are used to heal joints. Bones for this are crushed, combined with molten wax, applied to a heating pad and heated non-healthy areas.

However, in addition to medicinal qualities, olives have some contraindications. So, in order not to cause harm to health, with excess weight and cholecystitis, it is necessary to limit the use of these fruits. Their energy value is high, because 100 g of olives is 145 kcal.

Cooking

Do not puzzle over what olives are - a fruit or berry. It is better to find out where these delicious fruits are used. In cooking, olives are used incessantly. Mainly, they serve as a decoration of dishes and an independent snack, although they are often added to soups and salads. And stewed dishes acquire spicy bright notes with them.

Explanation

Olives are the fruit that has come to us from the Mediterranean. In our country, green fruits are called olives, and black fruits are called olives, as discussed above. In fact, there is no fruit with the name "olive"! On our planet, olives have only one name - "olive".

The fruit of the olive is a drupe, and therefore many call it a berry. From the fact in what form it is used, it can be both a vegetable and a fruit. If it is in a salad, then this is a vegetable. If it's eaten fresh, it's a fruit.

Tree

So, we have already found out that the olive is a berry. An olive tree in the Mediterranean is regarded as immortal. It grows very slowly, but it lives about 2,5 thousand years, and its fruits are given to the body by a myriad of useful and necessary substances - iron, phosphorus and potassium, vitamins of group B, C, E, and so on. Bones of this plant are digested completely, without bringing any damage to the body.

Usually the height of the olive tree is six meters, but sometimes you can find trees twice as tall. During flowering, it exudes a wonderful fragrance. Olive can be fruitful and useful only after reaching the age of 20 years. The tree brings berries once every two years.

History and application

Oliva appeared in Greece and today continues to be actively cultivated there. The plant was imported to the USA in 1560 and was grown in Peru and Mexico. Today, the 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 two of them: male and female together. From its fruits, olive oil is made, which is used in the manufacture of canned fish. It contains phosphorus, iron, sugars, pectin, vitamins B, P, and C. The quality of the oil is affected by the type of wood, the type of soil in which it grows, and climatic conditions. In addition, olives are preserved, as already mentioned, and used as a snack.

From wood of an olive tree furniture, joiner's and turning products are made. For medicinal purposes, bark and leaves are used, the oil contained in the fruit.

In addition, olive oil is popular in soap making and perfumery industry. Trees serve as an excellent protection against landslides and soil erosion. Their root system prevents natural disasters.

Reflections

Let's return to the definition of olives. Are they vegetables or fruits? Judging by the bone, they are fruits, not berries. So they are fruits? What is the essence of the division into vegetables and fruits?

It is known that a fruit is an edible, juicy fruit of a bush or tree. A variety of fruits are also certain berries. "Fruit" is usually referred to as any fruit, consisting of seeds and pulp, and appeared from the ovary of a flower. Vegetables are fruits of herbaceous plants, which have uncovered wood bark, soft stems.

Botanists believe that all the fruits that contain seeds are fruits. They are divided into three groups:

• Fruits with a juicy pulp and seeds (melons, oranges, apples, berries).
• Dry fruits (peas, nuts, beans).
• Fruits with a juicy pulp and the only central large stone (peaches, plums, cherries).

Vegetable is a culinary term meaning an edible part (for example, a tuber or fruit) of a plant that is not a grain, fruit, grass, nut or spice.

In this classification berries are referred to fruits. It is known that the stem of the olive is not herbaceous, so it is clearly not a vegetable. In fact, fruits such as cherries, raspberries, plums, walnuts - this is a bone. It seems that the olive is a drupe, not a berry.

But all the same, it turns out that both the berry and the drupe are fruits. So the olive is a fruit. Of course, it is more correct to consider that olives are a vegetable, a fruit and a berry in one person. And yet many people say that the olive is an olive!