European olive. Republic of Crimea

The olive tree has been considered a symbol of peace since the time of the Great Flood. Noah released a dove several times to find out if the Ark would soon reach land. One day, the dove returned with an olive branch in its beak. Noah understood that God had turned His anger to mercy and forgiven humanity. According to legend, the olive tree was the first plant to grow on earth when the flood receded.

In Crimea, the olive tree appeared along with the first Greek colonists in the 2nd millennium BC. Today, the peninsula is home to a centuries-old olive tree recognized as the oldest tree in the region, and hundred- and two-hundred-year-old olive groves are scattered along the southern coast of Crimea. The first Russian olive oil in Crimea was produced in 1826 by order of the imperial court.

The European olive is a subtropical evergreen tree reaching 4-5 meters in height (sometimes up to 10-12 meters), or less commonly, a shrub 2-4 meters tall. Freshly harvested fruits are used as food and as raw material for producing medicinal, culinary, and technical olive oil. Medicinal olive oil primarily consists of pure triolein. It is almost colorless and transparent at room temperature. Olive oil is used as a solvent in the production of injectable solutions of camphor, sex hormone preparations, their analogs, and some other medications. Technical grades of olive oil, known as wood oil, are used in soap making and other medications.

In Foros, Crimea, scientists have established an industrial olive plantation to develop new cultivation technology and to test a Crimean variety of olives. From these fruits, they have already managed to produce first cold-pressed olive oil using their own equipment.