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Olive (Olea europaea ssp. europaea) is the most important oil fruit crop in temperate areas, but the origin of the cultivated olive remains unclear. The existence of one or several domestication events in the Mediterranean Basin (MB) is still debated. We analyzed a dataset of 387 cultivated and wild accessions that were genotyped at 25 simple‐sequence repeat (SSR) loci. The sample represented genetic diversity at the geographic extremes of the MB. We inferred relationships among samples and also applied approximate Bayesian computation to estimate the most probable demographic model of our samples. Cultivated olives clustered into three different gene pools (Q1, Q2 and Q3), corresponding loosely to the west, central and eastern MB, respectively. Q1 consisted primarily of accessions from southern Spain, retained the fingerprint of a genetic bottleneck, and was closely related to accessions from the eastern MB. Q2 showed signs of recent admixture with wild olives and may derive from a local domestication event in the central MB. Overall our results suggest that admixture shaped olive germplasm and perhaps also local domestication events.

Olea europaea L. fruit is a peculiar vegetal matrix containing high levels of fatty acids (98–99% of the total weight of extra-virgin olive oil, EVOO) and low quantities (1–2%) of phenolics, phytosterols, tocopherols, and squalene. Among these minor components, phenolics are relevant molecules for human health. This review is focused on their beneficial activity, in particular of hydroxytyrosol (HT), oleuropein (OLE), oleocanthal (OLC), and lignans found in EVOO, olive oil by-products and leaves. Specifically, the cardioprotective properties of the Mediterranean diet (MD) related to olive oil consumption, and the biological activities of polyphenols recovered from olive oil by-products and leaves were described. Recent European projects such as EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) and EPICOR (long-term follow-up of antithrombotic management patterns in acute coronary syndrome patients) have demonstrated the functional and preventive activities of EVOO showing the relation both between cancer and nutrition and between consumption of EVOO, vegetables, and fruit and the incidence of coronary heart disease. The data reported in this review demonstrate that EVOO, one of the pillars of the MD, is the main product of Olea europaea L. fruits; leaves and by-products are secondary but precious products from which bioactive compounds can be recovered by green technologies and reused for food, agronomic, nutraceutical, and biomedical applications according to the circular economy strategy.

The diversity and factors influencing fungal assemblages in phyllosphere of Mediterranean tree species have been barely studied, especially when endophytic and epiphytic communities are simultaneously considered. In this work, the endophytic and epiphytic fungal communities from olive tree phyllosphere were studied. This tree species is natural from the Mediterranean region and adapted to grow under adverse climatic conditions. The main objectives were to determine whether there are differences between both fungal communities and to examine whether different abiotic (climate-related) and biotic (plant organs) factors play a pivotal role in structuring these communities. Both communities differed in size and composition, with epiphytic community being richer and more abundant, displaying also a dominance of melanized fungi. Season was the major driver of community composition, especially of epiphytes. Other drivers shaping epiphytes were wind speed and temperature, while plant organ, rainfall, and temperature were the major drivers for endophytic composition. In contrast, canopy orientation caused slight variations in community composition of fungi, but with distinct effects in spring and autumn seasons. In conclusion, epiphytic and endophytic communities are not driven by the same factors. Several sources of variation undergo complex interactions to form and maintain phyllosphere fungal community in Mediterranean climates. Climatic parameters have influence on these fungal communities, suggesting that they are likely to be affected by climate changes in a near future.

Growing scientific literature data suggest that the intake of natural bioactive compounds plays a critical role in preventing or reducing the occurrence of human chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Oleuropein, the main phenolic component of Olea europaea L., has attracted scientific attention for its several health beneficial properties such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, cardio- and neuro-protective, and anti-cancer. This article is a narrative review focused on the current literature concerning the effect of oleuropein in NCDs, such as neuro- and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney diseases, and cancer, by its putative antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, but also for its other peculiar actions such as an autophagy inducer and amyloid fibril growth inhibitor and, finally, for its anti-cancer effect. Despite the increasing number of published studies, looking at the beneficial effects of oleuropein, there is limited clinical evidence focused on the benefits of this polyphenol as a nutraceutical product in humans, and many problems are still to be resolved about its bioavailability, bioaccessibility, and dosage. Thus, future clinical randomized trials are needed to establish the relation between the beneficial effects and the mechanisms of action occurring in the human body in response to the intake of oleuropein.

The application of spectral sensors mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) assures high spatial and temporal resolutions. This research focused on canopy reflectance for cultivar recognition in an olive grove. The ability in cultivar recognition of 14 vegetation indices (VIs) calculated from reflectance patterns (green520–600, red630–690 and near-infrared760–900 bands) and an image segmentation process was evaluated on an open-field olive grove with 10 different scion/rootstock combinations (two scions by five rootstocks). Univariate (ANOVA) and multivariate (principal components analysis—PCA and linear discriminant analysis—LDA) statistical approaches were applied. The efficacy of VIs in scion recognition emerged clearly from all the approaches applied, whereas discrimination between rootstocks appeared unclear. The results of LDA ascertained the efficacy of VI application to discriminate between scions with an accuracy of 90.9%, whereas recognition of rootstocks failed in more than 68.2% of cases.

The authors are grateful to the FEDER and Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2019) and BioISI (UID/MULTI/04046/2013), as well as the Horizon 2020, the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, for financial support the project PRIMA/0002/2018 INTOMED—Innovative tools to combat crop pests in the Mediterranean. D. Mina thanks FCT, POPH-QREN and FSE for SFRH-BD-105341/2014 grant.

Wild olive (Olea europaea L.) is a highly significant forest tree species, both in Türkiye and globally. Its oil and other extracts from the fruits and leaves are vital to various industries, including culinary, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare, making it a valuable non-timber forest product. However, its natural distribution is restricted to Mediterranean climates, emphasizing the need for conservation efforts to support its growth and expansion. Potential distribution modelling is one of the best studies to be done to protect a species and ensure its survival. In this study, the MaxEnt method, which relies exclusively on presence data, was used to generate a potential distribution map for wild olive. The environmental variables to be included in the modeling method were determined using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), one of the multi-criteria decision-making methods. From an initial set of 29 variables, AHP selected the top 11 for the final model. The resulting model demonstrated high accuracy, with an AUC value of 0.922, successfully identifying and mapping the potential distribution areas for wild olive across Türkiye.

Olive oil (Olea europaea L.) is widespread due to its bioactive composition, sensorial characteristics, health benefits, and protection against certain diseases. Most of papers reported so far aimed to highlight its content as well as the quality of this edible oil in many different countries. In the present work, we targeted to review the sets of factors that could influence olive oil quality (whether it is virgin olive oils, or extra-virgin olive oils produced in different areas of origin, from several genetic backgrounds, plus the olives and olive oil processing from the fruits harvesting to olive oil bottling and storage, i.e., from farmers to consumers). In addition to all the internal and external variables, the last sub-paragraph was devoted to cooking effects. Notably, olive oil quality differed depending on many factors, thus, to obtain excellent quality, producers should be alerted to the attributes of their orchards (location; latitude and altitude, pedoclimate conditions) to adapt to the appropriate growing practices, like irrigation, fertilization, and pruning. The harvest time/ripening degree, which is related to the cultivated variety and the origin areas climate, as well as the extraction methods, bottling and storage conditions (container’s type and storage time) were also considered.

Future climate models project that increases in global warming will have severe impacts on the flowering phenology of perennial fruit trees, including olive trees, a key species extensively cultivated in the Mediterranean region. Understanding the genetic factors regulating flowering is thus crucial to generate essential knowledge for the selection of suitable cultivars and for designing future olive breeding programs. Here we investigated genetic control of the full flowering date (FFD) trait through a quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping approach. Two high-density parental genetic maps, with > 10k SNPs, were constructed based on an Olivière x Arbequina F1 hybrid olive progeny. Phenological observations of the same progeny were conducted across five environments (site × season), and the data served to compute best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) for FFD. Both FFD-based BLUPs and single-environment datasets were used to detect key QTLs, which were further explored through in silico candidate gene investigations. Analysis of the FFD distribution revealed high heritability with transgressive segregation. A total of 18 significant QTLs were identified in the BLUP analysis, and six were selected as the most relevant. Two QTLs were co-detected on the same linkage groups (LGs) of both parental genetic maps in the BLUP and some environment analyses: LG09 ( qFDO9b/ qFDA9 ) and LG07 ( qFDO7/ qFDA7 ). Moreover, four QTLs on LG3 ( qFDA3 ), LG22 ( qFDA22 ) and LG13 ( qFDA13) on Arbequina map, and LG13 ( qFDO13) on Olivière map were revealed in the BLUP and some single-environment analyses. qFDA13 and qFDA22 were characterized by high explained variance (14.67% and 11.66%, respectively) and additive effects (-1.09 and + 1.15, respectively). Candidate gene investigation revealed genes within key QTLs probably involved in transcription regulation, including WRKY71 , RLT3 , and ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE-5-LIKE , in addition to the FT–INTERACTING protein1 transport protein. This study aimed to elucidate the genetic control of the flowering date in olive trees. The key QTLs identified generated valuable knowledge on the genetic basis of the flowering date, which could be taken into account in future genetic and breeding research focused on developing new varieties better adapted to global warming.

In this study, a successfully rapid, simple approach was applied for biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles AgNPs using for the first time the mixed leaves extract of Olea europaea subsp. europaea var. sylvestris and Pistacia lentiscus from natural association aimed to enhance their antimicrobial potential. The plant extract acts both as reducing and capping agents. When the aqueous extract was added to AgNO3 solution, the color was changed from pale to yellow to brown indicating the reduction of Ag ions and synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) without any solvent or hazardous reagents. The green synthesized AgNPs were characterized by UV–Vis spectrophotometer, FTIR spectrum and the X-ray crystallography. The AgNPs showed superior antioxidant activity measured by DPPH, Ferric Antioxidant Reducing Power (FRAP) as well as the total antioxidant activity methods. Moreover, the analysis of phytochemical constituents including flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids and total polyphenols contents mentioned the most richness of the silver nanoparticles compared to plant extract. The new synthesized AgNPs demonstrated the bactericidal and fungicidal effects against all the tested bacterial and fungal strains and found to limit the spore germination of filamentous fungi. AgNPs also gave an anti-biofilm activity and synergistic effect with the conventional antibiotic’s drugs. Here we firstly describe the silver nanoparticles effect on virulence factors of Candida species by reduction of enzymes like proteinase and phospholipase, inhibition of morphogenesis of Candida albicans cells. This natural product, acquiring these properties, should be promoted to be used in pharmaceutical and medical industries in future.