Tag: Raw olives

Did you know that olives are technically a stone fruit, similar to peaches? However, unlike other fruits, is eating raw olives good for you? The truth is that eating an olive right off the tree is an intensely unpleasant and bitter experience.

Over 90% of the world's olive harvest is used for oil production, but for those destined for the table, the curing process is essential. So, what happens when you eat a raw olive, the kind straight from the branch? The experience is overwhelmingly bitter, a stark contrast to the salty, pleasant snack you know and love.

Raw olives, straight from the tree, are not high in sodium and are, in fact, inedible due to their extreme bitterness. The high sodium content found in most store-bought olives is a direct result of the curing process, which is necessary to make them palatable. It is the brine or salt packing used during curing that infuses the fruit with salt, not its natural state.

Raw olives, straight from the tree, are famously inedible due to an intensely bitter compound called oleuropein. However, a very specific variety of olive is a rare exception to this rule, answering the question: Which olive can be eaten raw?.