People have different opinions about olives; the salty brine of this Mediterranean fruit divides some. For millennia, Greece, Italy, and Spain have all had extensive olive plantations. Olives are great for direct consumption, but they are also gathered for their oil, which is used nowadays in cooking and baking all around the world.
But there are big differences in how we use various coloured olives. There is some overlap, of course, but generally speaking, green olives are packed with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and even mozzarella after being cured. Black olives, on the other hand, are typically diced up and added as a briny garnish to pizzas and salads. Therefore, if you enjoy this salty snack with your meals or beverages, you definitely have a favourite variety. But have we exaggerated the nutritional differences between olives or are they actually not that significant?
Green Olives
The unripe fruit of olive trees is known as green olives. They are brined after soaking in a lye solution to give them their distinctive flavour. This procedure is required to get rid of the bitter flavour that raw olives have by nature. Antioxidants and good fats are abundant in green olives. They have significant amounts of vitamins A and E. You may readily buy a variety of different green olives in a supermarket store. Although they can also be packed with pimentos, cheese, jalapenos, capers, onions, anchovies, or almonds, green olives are often pitted. Three popular types of green olives are Manzanilla, Picholine, and Cerignola.
Black Olives
The mature fruit of the olive tree is the black olive. Olives that are ripe change from green to a dark tint that might be anything from light brown to deep black. The ripe olives go through a curing process after being collected, which might make them even darker. Black olives are rich in monounsaturated fats, calcium, and potassium, just like their green counterparts. They also have significant amounts of vitamins E and A.
Black olives come in a variety of common varieties. Greek olives with a moderate flavour and purple-brown colour are known as Kalamata olives after the city of Kalamata in the southern Peloponnese of Greece. The Italian Gaeta olive is another common kind. Gaetas and Kalamatas have a similar appearance in terms of colour and shape, making them readily confused.
Difference
Color: True to their names, green and black olives are both green in colour. These names, meanwhile, fall short of accurately describing the wide range of colours found in different kinds of green and black olives. Some black olives have more of a purple or brown colour, and some green olives can appear more yellow than green.
Flavor: Green olives tend to have more sodium than black olives do, making them saltier overall. Additionally, compared to black olives, green olives typically taste tangier and more bitter.
Ripeness: Green olives are plucked from the tree before they are completely mature. Black olives mature before harvest.
Processing: After being soaked in a lye solution, green olives go through a fermentation phase before being preserved in a salt brine. Pass on the ripe olives immediately cure after the fermentation stage.
Nutritional value: Although both green and black olives are healthy choices, green olives come out on top by a razor-thin margin. The cause is because compared to black olives, green olives often have higher levels of polyphenols, an antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties.