The Ayvalık (Edremit) olive: one variety, two names

Türkiye's best-known olive oil region is the Gulf of Edremit, and its variety is Ayvalık — which the literature also calls Edremit. Its share of the tree stock is given as 19-20.66%, second after Memecik.

Identity

One variety, two names. "Ayvalık" is the commercial and common name; "Edremit" is the regional one. Both describe the same variety — you will see either on a shelf.

Ripening calendar

The phrase "after 15 November" is worth noting — no upper limit is given. Ayvalık is among the latest varieties in the table to reach black maturity.

That green maturity is squeezed into a narrow 15-30 October window matters for the table trade: if green table olives are to be picked, those two weeks cannot be missed.

Processed four ways

Ayvalık is, with Memecik, one of only two varieties that can be handled in four different ways:

• Green table olives
• Pink scored
• Black table olives
• Oil

In practice, though, the weight is on oil. Along the northern Aegean line — Edremit, Ayvalık, Burhaniye, Havran — production goes largely to the mill.

Why the region matters

The Gulf of Edremit is where olive oil is most closely identified with a geographical identity in Türkiye. The region sits at the centre of the olive belt that begins at Çanakkale in the northern Aegean.

The variety has spread beyond its home region too: in the eastern Mediterranean it is grown alongside Sarı Ulak, Büyük Topak Ulak, Halhalı and Gemlik.

There is also a separate literature on the monumental olive trees of the Edremit district — trees centuries old that are still in production.

The olive fly and Ayvalık

The variety plays a part in olive fruit fly control. The technical instruction notes that the fly prefers large, glossy fruit that has begun to accumulate oil — and that in humid, temperate regions damage starts with the brining varieties Gemlik and Manzanilla and the oil variety Ladoelies.

When Ayvalık is destined for oil the sting threshold is 3-4%; if it is going to the table the threshold drops to 1%. So within the same grove and the same variety, two different thresholds can apply depending on the target market.

Summary

• Ayvalık and Edremit are two names for the same variety.
• Share of the tree stock 19-20.66%, second after Memecik.
• Oil content 25%.
• Green maturity 15-30 October (a narrow window), black maturity after 15 November — among the latest.
• Can be processed four ways, but the weight is on oil.
• Its region is the Gulf of Edremit, Ayvalık, Burhaniye and Havran; it has spread to the eastern Mediterranean.
• Change the target market and the control threshold changes too: 3-4% stings for oil, 1% for the table.

Sources

t; Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, TAGEM. Olive Integrated Pest Management Technical Instruction. Ankara, 2022, Table 10. — Phenological stages and control thresholds

t; Efe, R., Soykan, A., Cürebal, İ. and Sönmez, S. (2016). Characteristics and Geographical Distribution of Olive Varieties Grown in Türkiye. In: Zeytin Kitabı (E. Naskali, ed.), Kitabevi, pp. 37-80. — Composition, distribution and processing forms

Related reading: Olive varieties · The Memecik olive · The Gemlik olive · Olive fruit fly control