The New Complete Book of Food

o

]

[

8

1

3

w

/

?

^



r Olies

See also Vegetable oils.

Nutritional Profile

Energy value (calories per serving): Moderate

Protein: Low

Fat: High

Saturated fat: Low

Cholesterol: None

Carbohydrates: Low

Fiber: High

Sodium: High

Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin E

Major mineral contribution: Iron

About the Nutrients in This Food

Olives come in two basic colors, green and black. The green are picked

before they ripen; the black are picked ripe and dipped in an iron solution

to stabilize their color. After harvesting, all green olives and most black

olives are soaked in a mild solution of sodium hydroxide, then washed

thoroughly in water to rid them of oleuropein, a naturally bitter carbohy-

drate. (The exceptions are salt-cured black Greek and Italian olives, which

retain their oleuropein.) Green olives are sometimes fermented before

being packed in brine; black olives aren’t, which is why they taste milder.

Greek and Italian olives are black olives that taste sharp because they

have not been soaked to remove their oleuropein. They are salt-cured and

sold in bulk, covered with olive oil that protects them from oxygen and

helps preserve them.

Olives are a high-fiber, high-fat food that derive 69 to 78 percent of

their calories from olive oil, a predominantly unsaturated fat.

A serving of five olives, green or black, weighing 19 to 22 g, has 2 g

fat (0.3 g saturated fat). A serving of ripe olives has one gram dietary fiber;

green olives, less than one gram.

The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food

Plain olives have less sodium than salt-cured olives.