Fruit Growth and Olive Oil Quality in Relation to Foliar Nutrition and Time of Application

Fertilization with N and K increases oil and water content in olive (Olea europaea L.) fruit via increased proportion of pulp

“…Inglese et al (2002) reported that N and K fertilization during pit hardening increased fruit size and pulp/pit ratio. Also Ben Mimoun et al (2004) reported that K fertilization improve yield and quality as well as fruit weight and pulp/pit ratio.…”

“…Toplu et al (2009) found that soil fertilization (i.e., urea, potassium sulphate and mono-ammonium phosphate) increases fruit and oil yield, mean fruit weight and pulp/pit ratio. Fruit oil content may increase with supplemental N-K fertilization (Toplu et al, 2009;Malek and Mustapha, 2013) or it may not increase (Talaie et al, 2001;Inglese et al, 2002;Morales-Sillero et al, 2007).…”

Vegetative growth and fruit set of olive (Olea europaea L. cv. �Zard�) in response to some soil and plant factors

“…Nitrogen deficiency in leaves is well established as a factor limiting fruit set in olive trees (Cimato et al, 1990;Freeman et al, 2005;Therios, 2006). Furthermore, correction of insufficient N has been found to reduce fruit abscission throughout all developmental stages (Cimato et al, 1990;Inglese et al, 2002). Nitrogen is essential for protein biosynthesis, and the fact that developing inflorescences have been shown to be strong sinks for N and water-soluble proteins that its availability is important for flowering (Bouranis et al, 1999).…”

Cultivation Techniques

“…Potassium is easily absorbed and distributed through leaf tissues (California Fertilizer Association, 1998) and foliar application is helpful to satisfy plant requirement having a high efficiency (Inglese et al, 2002). Phosphorous is given during summer fruit growth, in order to be readily absorbed and translocated to the fruits for quality purposes, therefore its application is better in the form of a foliar fertilizer.…”