From the Olive Flower to the Drupe: Flower Types, Pollination, Self and Inter-Compatibility and Fruit Set

Abstract

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/55312 . Introduction . . Frame of the chapter "lthough the tree development directs the olive tree yield we focus here to describe the main phases, stages and key steps from blossoming to harvest. The olive tree produces much more flowers than all other trees, however, fruit set and final harvest are limited by several parameters.Most articles in literature deal with the physiological aspects of the transformation of the olive flower into the drupe. Little attention has been given to genetic involvements that underlay the physiology and the biochemistry. " comprehensive survey of the literature as much as we can is given with genetic commentaries based upon recent genetic progresses made in the field.The olive tree derived from the oleaster and the oleaster belongs to an intertropical "sian, "frican genus and a major difference between northern species Fraxinus, Syringa, Ligustrum is the bare axillary buds at the basis of leaves. This explains why the olive is more susceptible to freeze than other Oleaceae as Fraxinus. Olive flower buds appear on one-yearold twig in terminal position or at the axillary of the leaves.

Self-Incompatibility Assessment of Some Italian Olive Genotypes (Olea europaea L.) and Cross-Derived Seedling Selection by SSR Markers on Seed Endosperms

“…The fruit set evaluation is an essential trait in the study of the floral biology of a plant species, since it is related to productivity. In olive, only 1–2% of flowers present at the anthesis will usually give rise to fruits (Sibbett, 2005; Breton and Berville, 2013). In sensu strictu , this percentage may seem extremely low, but on the contrary, it guarantees a good productivity if considering the surplus of flower production per single plant necessary to guarantee an efficient wind- or pollinator-mediated pollination.…”

Characterization of Transcriptome Dynamics during Early Fruit Development in Olive (Olea europaea L.)

“…Though it is technically a fleshy drupe from hermaphroditic flowers, the fruit is commonly called a ‘stone fruit’ because the seed coat is enclosed in a stone-hard, lignified endocarp [ 5 ]. The olive fruit is composed of two parts: the flesh, which is of maternal origin, and the embryo, which has different genetic origins that explain certain characteristics of the oil composition in different environments [ 6 ].…”

“…As the young olive fruit accumulates water, its cells swell and also rapidly proliferate. This early developmental feature of the fruit becomes patent some 50 days following ovary fertilization, as most of the nutritional resources become mobilized at this early stage while the other parameters tend to slow down [ 5 , 6 ]. After this early stage and until fruit ripening, fruit pulp growth is due solely to cell expansion, and oil starts to accumulate.…”

Olives and olive oil production in the Alto Ricaurte climate region in Boyaca, Colombia

“…Also, there is a dependent effect of the genotype (Rapoport, 2014;Carvajal-R. et al, 2018). Latitude does not have any effect on the induction of floral buds (Breton and Berville, 2013). The most fruitful buds are in the central area of the branch; nevertheless, in the tropics, this is not its performance, because, there is a pattern, to bloom in new branches according to .…”