Olive variety index
Every variety with a page on this site, in one list. Open one for its measured values.
◆ This mark means a registered geographical indication is built on that variety — the registration covers the product of a defined area, not the variety wherever it grows.
Varieties of Turkey
Adana Topağı
The lowest chilling requirement among cultivars tested: 346 hours, 234 chill units. Why that matters as winters warm, and its 6-gram fruit.
Arbequina IRTA-i18
IRTA-i18, developed from Arbequina by clonal selection, was chosen for super-high-density groves. What early bearing, mechanical harvest and a low 459-hour chilling requirement actually mean.
The Ayvalık (Edremit) olive◆
19-20.66% of the tree stock, second after Memecik. 25% oil. Green maturity only between 15 and 30 October; black maturity after 15 November, among the latest.
Belluti olive
Belluti is a recorded variety of south-eastern Anatolia. No measured pomological data published.
Butko olive
Butko is a recorded variety of the Black Sea. No measured pomological data published.
Büyük Topak Ulak olive
Büyük Topak Ulak is a recorded variety of the Mediterranean. Described in the source.
The Domat olive◆
Domat, Turkey's largest table cultivar: 7.96 g fruit, 89% flesh, a 552-hour chilling requirement. Why stuffed olives are always made from it, the disagreement over oil content, and why it is never planted alone.
The Edincik Su olive◆
One of the three cultivars widely processed as black table olives in Turkey, alongside Gemlik and Uslu. The cultivar of the Bandırma area.
The Erkence olive
Erkence accounts for 3.5% of Turkey's olive trees. It is the Aegean's earliest-ripening cultivar and has a property with few equivalents anywhere: the fruit loses its bitterness on the tree, without brine.
Eğriburun olive
The lowest oil content on the list (17%) but the highest flesh ratio (89%) — a pure table variety.
The Gemlik olive◆
Turkey s only olive cultivar with a geographical indication: 3.7 g fruit, a 6.4 flesh-to-pit ratio, 29-30% oil. Self-fertility measurements, chilling requirement, and why it is still picked by hand.
Gölvala olive
Gölvala is a recorded variety of the Black Sea. No measured pomological data published.
The Halhalı olive◆
Halhalı accounts for 2.2% of Turkey's olive trees, the main oil cultivar of Hatay and Mardin. The measured self-sterility of Yuvarlak Halhalı and what it means for orchard planning.
Hursuki olive
Hursuki is a recorded variety of south-eastern Anatolia. No measured pomological data published.
Kalem Bezi olive
Tied with Kilis Yağlık for the highest oil content on the list (31%), but with a better flesh ratio.
Kan Çelebi olive
Kan Çelebi is a recorded variety of south-eastern Anatolia. Described in the source.
Karamürsel Su olive
The largest fruit on the list: only 140 per kilo. Marmara's own distinctive table variety.
Kilis Yağlık olive
One of Türkiye's highest oil-yielding varieties at 31%. Small-fruited and purely for oil — 560 fruits per kilo.
Kiraz olive
Akhisar's early table variety. Low in oil, but early maturity makes it the season's first olive to market.
Marantelli olive
Marantelli is a recorded variety of the Black Sea. Described in the source.
Mavi olive
Mavi is a recorded variety of south-eastern Anatolia. No measured pomological data published.
Melkebazi olive
Melkebazi is a recorded variety of south-eastern Anatolia. No measured pomological data published.
The Memecik olive◆
Between 19% and 45% of the tree stock. 24-25% oil, 88% flesh. Green maturity in early October, two months after Gemlik.
Memeli olive
The highest flesh ratio on the list at 89%. Low in oil, but with one of the smallest stones.
Nizip Yağlık olive
The southeast's main oil variety and one of the rare self-fertile cultivars on the list — it crops even without a pollinator.
Otur olive
Otur is a recorded variety of the Black Sea. Described in the source.
Patos olive
Patos is a recorded variety of the Black Sea. Described in the source.
Samanlı olive◆
The local table variety around Lake İznik — Gemlik's neighbour, with a different fruit structure.
Sarı Haşebi olive
Hatay's local table variety, virtually unknown outside the region and part of Kuseyr Plateau olive growing.
Sarı Ulak olive◆
The eastern Mediterranean's table variety. The lowest flesh ratio on the list (72%) — a large stone, yet it holds its ground.
Sat olive
Sat is a recorded variety of the Black Sea. No measured pomological data published.
Saurani olive
Hatay's dual-purpose variety: 29% oil with 87% flesh — one of the most balanced combinations on the list.
Tavşanyüreği olive◆
Tavşanyüreği is a recorded variety of the Mediterranean. Described in the source.
Uslu olive◆
Akhisar's black table variety. Overshadowed by Gemlik, yet holding its own market.
Yamalak Sarısı◆
A local cultivar of Aydın counted among Turkey's most important table olives, and the subject of a phenotypic characterisation study.
Yağ Çelebi olive
Despite the name, its 21% oil puts it low on the list; its large fruit also serves the table.
Zoncuk olive
Zoncuk is a recorded variety of south-eastern Anatolia. No measured pomological data published.
The Çakır olive
Reported alongside Ayvalık and Domat with a 1000-hour chilling requirement — the group most at risk as winters warm.
The Çekişte olive◆
Çekişte accounts for 1.5% of Turkey's olive trees — more widespread than Domat or Uslu, yet a cultivar whose name is almost never heard.
The Çelebi olive
Grown around İznik in Bursa, Çelebi is a green table cultivar. Its oil content is lower than Gemlik's — which is no drawback for a table olive.
The Çilli olive
At 6.90 g it ranks among the large-fruited cultivars, and sits in the low chilling-requirement group — second only to Adana Topağı.
İzmir Sofralık olive
İzmir Sofralık is a recorded variety of the Aegean. Described in the source.
World varieties
Arbequina olive
The mainstay of super-high-density planting. Small canopy, small fruit, early bearing — the variety that changed modern olive growing.
Coratina olive
Among the highest-polyphenol varieties in the world. Distinctly bitter and pungent — the oil that gives blends their backbone.
Frantoio olive
The emblem of Tuscan olive oil. A balanced, aromatic, moderately bitter oil, and the most widely exported Italian variety.
Hojiblanca olive
Spain's third-largest variety and genuinely dual-purpose: it goes to black table olives and to oil alike.
Kalamata olive
The world's best-known table olive. Almond-shaped, purplish-black fruit, and a name that is a protected designation of origin.
Koroneiki olive
The backbone of Greek olive oil. Very small fruit, very high polyphenol content, and one of the three super-high-density varieties.
Leccino olive
Frantoio's blending partner. A softer profile with notable cold and disease tolerance.
Manzanilla olive
The world's most widely planted green table variety and the international standard for stuffed olives. It is grown in Türkiye too.
Mission olive
America's historic variety: carried by the Spanish missions, it built California's black table olive industry.
Picual olive
The single largest share of world olive oil production. High oleic acid and polyphenols, a pungent and stable oil.