Edincik Olive: high water content makes it a table olive

Oil content usually decides whether a cultivar goes to the table or to the mill. For Edincik Olive the deciding factor is water: the certificate attributes its table use directly to high water content.

The record

The cultivar grows densely in Bandırma's Edincik neighbourhood, from which it takes its name.

Measured values

Moisture of 50-74% is a wide and high band. Oil content dropping as low as 13% follows from the same cause: water displaces oil.

Phenolics and volatiles

The certificate describes the cultivar as rich in ethyl acetate, 3-methyl-1-butanol and mequinol — the three compounds that carry its aroma.

The tree

Growth is of medium vigour, forming a medium-sized, spreading, rounded crown. Branching is of medium density, as is foliage. Branches two years and older are beige-green, young ones green-grey. The leaves are long, narrow and elliptical.

A condition on planting

The certificate states one production requirement plainly: groves must be established on irrigable, fertile land. Where the slope exceeds 5%, terracing is required. Measures are taken where the water table is high or water collects.

A consistent requirement for a cultivar that wants water.

The oil registration of the same area

The Bandırma Chamber of Commerce also registered the cultivar's oil separately: Edincik Su Olive Oil (no 1595, designation of origin). An oil registration from a high-water cultivar is an interesting choice — the slow-ripening effect of the Erdek gulf is the argument made there.

The production steps in the document

The registration describes production step by step. The document's own sequence:

1. Toprak İşleme — Zeytinliklerde yılda 2-3 kez toprak işlemesi yeterli olur.

2. Gübreleme — İlk gübreleme sürgün faaliyeti başlamadan yaklaşık bir ay önce yapılır.

3. Sulama — Edincik Zeytinin yetiştiği bölgelerde genellikle ağaçlar sulanmaz.

4. Budama — Budama; şekil, verim ve gençleştirme budaması olmak üzere üçe ayrılır.

5. Yeşil sofralık zeytin üretimi — Hasat ve Sofralık Yeşil Zeytin Hazırlığı: Yeşil sofralık zeytin üretiminde hasat, Ekim ayının ilk haftasında başlar.

6. Salamura Suyu Hazırlığı — Zeytinlerin acılığının giderilmesi için fermantasyon işlemi uygulanır.

7. Tatlandırma — Fermantasyon süresince salamuranın tuzluluk ve asitlik oranları kontrol edilir.

8. Zeytinlerin Olgunlaştırılması — Zeytinler fermantasyon suyu içerisinde yaklaşık 9 ay bekleyerek olgunlaşır.

That this sequence is binding is what separates a geographical indication from a trade mark: a mark says who produced something, a geographical indication also sets down how it must be produced.

The cultivar behind it, measured

The registration is granted to a place, but the cultivar the definition rests on has measurable values:

At 17% the oil content sits mid-range; yield alone is not the argument here, aroma is.

Its place in Balıkesir's olive production

85% of the province's fruit goes to oil — so this table-olive registration defines a niche outside the main flow.