Olive

A tree crop, Olea europaea, domesticated in the eastern Mediterranean basin, with archaeological and genetic evidence pointing to multiple domestication centers across the region rather than a single point of origin, roughly six to eight thousand years ago. Olives are grown both for direct consumption, after curing to remove their natural bitterness, and for pressing into olive oil, which has been central to the diet, economy, trade and religious and ceremonial life of Mediterranean societies since antiquity, used in cooking, lighting, anointing and ritual across Greek, Roman, Jewish and other regional traditions. Spain, Italy and Greece remain the largest modern producers, together accounting for most of the world's olive oil.