`Researchers Recover Forgotten Olive Varieties in Spain - Olive Oil Times

Researchers Recover Forgotten Olive Varieties in Spain

By Olive Oil Times Staff
Aug. 11, 2014 11:20 UTC

Researchers with the Spanish extra vir­gin olive oil brand Olei, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Centro Superior de Investigaciones Científicos (CSIC), have recov­ered three olive vari­eties native to Galicia that are at least 100 years old.

In a press release the com­pany said the team dis­cov­ered and reg­is­tered the Brava Gallera’ vari­ety in Galicia.” As part of the Galiat 6+7 project, the research group Galicia Biological Mission-CSIC (Misión Biológica de Galicia-CSIC) says it has been work­ing to estab­lish plan­ta­tions that allow the com­pany to incor­po­rate native olive vari­eties that are near extinc­tion.”

Olei and CSIC con­tinue their work to char­ac­ter­ize the leaves and fruit of local olive spec­i­mens through­out Galicia, includ­ing those that have yet to be dis­cov­ered, com­ple­ment­ing their research with mol­e­c­u­lar analy­sis. They have also stud­ied the effects of edapho­cli­matic con­di­tions in Galicia, for exam­ple dif­fer­ent soil types and cul­ti­va­tion zones, on the size and char­ac­ter­is­tics of fruit and leaves as well as the chem­i­cal com­po­si­tion of olives and olive oil.

Meanwhile the group is research­ing the pos­si­ble anti-tumoral and anti-metasta­tic effects of olives and olive oils in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Pharmacological Department at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. This study, which is also part of the Galiat 6+7 project, eval­u­ates the incor­po­ra­tion of Olei extra vir­gin olive oil in the diets of 250 par­tic­i­pat­ing fam­i­lies.

The group is also con­duct­ing stud­ies on the extrac­tion of oil from native grape vari­eties like Albariño, Loureiro, Caíño Blanco and Mencía in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the winer­ies Terras Gauda and Pazo de Rivas.

Olei pro­duces lim­ited quan­ti­ties of extra vir­gin olive oils with a focus on native vari­eties found only in the regions of Quiroga and Valdeorras in Galicia.


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