Soma Olive Oil: how a cooler climate lifts yield in a lignite basin

Olives like warmth, but not too much of it. The certificate for Soma Olive Oil sets out that balance in figures: the district's relative coolness lifts the yield.

The record

Climate and yield

The link the certificate draws is explicit: the relatively low temperature allows the cold-hardy Edremit Yağlık and Gemlik cultivars to yield up to 796.22 kg/da.

Soma has a semi-humid Mediterranean climate: mild winters, hot dry summers. Rainfall is sufficient for olives.

Fruit measurements

The certificate gives two columns (for the two cultivars):

Properties of the oil

Peroxide of 3.20-8.70 is very low against a codex ceiling of 20. Free acidity reaching as low as 0.18 is likewise the mark of fresh, quickly processed oil.

In short

Soma Olive Oil is a registration that puts numbers on the relationship between climate and yield: a mean of 15.3 °C, two cold-hardy cultivars, and yields up to 796 kg/da. On the oil side, low acidity and low peroxide stand out.

The criteria the document binds

The registration does not only protect a name; it defines the product numerically:

Inspection. Members: Orman Müdürlüğünden ve Soma Ticaret ve Sanayi Odası. Results are reported under Industrial Property Law no. 6769 and submitted to the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office.

The production steps in the document

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

1. Zeytin hasadı — Hasat olgunluğuna gelen zeytin taneleri; makine veya elle meyveye hasar vermeyecek şekilde hasat edilerek toprakla temas etmeden toplanır ve gıda ile temasa uygun, plastik kasalarda, hava alacak şekilde işletmeye getirilir.

2. Zeytinlerin temizlenmesi — Zeytinler; yaprak, toz, toprak, çakıl taşı vb.

3. Zeytinlerin kırılması ve ezilmesi — Zeytinler, kırıcı üniteler ile kırılır, parçalanır.

4. Zeytin hamurundan yağın ekstraksiyonu — Ekstraksiyon, aşağıdaki metotlardan birisiyle gerçekleştirilir.

5. Karasuyun zeytinyağından ayrılması — Soma Zeytinyağının yoğunluk farkına dayanan santrifüjleme işlemi ile faz ayrımı yapılır.

6. Depolama ve ambalajlama — Soma Zeytinyağı konik dipli, kolay temizlenebilir, genelde seviye kontrollü ve numune almaya uygun olan paslanmaz çelik veya krom nikel kaplı tanklarda, inert gaz veya yüzer kapak sistemlerle depolanır.

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.

Its place in Manisa's olive production

Oil and table production are close in this province (66% for oil); the production base is not locked to one direction.