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Fermentation Atlas

Fruit from Spain

Spanish-style (Sevillian) green olivesaceitunas estilo sevillano

Green olives are soaked in lye until it reaches two-thirds of the way into the flesh, washed, and put into salt brine. Lactic bacteria, mainly Lactiplantibacillus pentosus, then sour them over two to three months. Made in 7 steps over 2.4 months – 3.8 months. The longest step, finish and hold in brine, takes 2–3 months (Battcock M. and Azam-Ali S. 1998). Salt is 10–12 % → 5.88 % (Lucena-Padrós H 2014). Lactiplantibacillus pentosus and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, the name used in older reports for the same group do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–3 monthsReported[fao134]Finish and hold in brine
Salt10–12 % → 5.88 %Measured[lucena2014]Cover with brine
AciditypH up to 4Set[ioc2004][lucena2014]Finish and hold in brine
Fully documentedFruit2.4 months – 3.8 monthsMore fruitMore from Spain

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAn industrial process with no fixed batch size; the sources give concentrations, not amounts. The factories in the Seville study ferment about 10 tonnes of olives in 5,500–6,000 litres of brine per fermenter.
Green olives, picked full-size before they colour · Manzanilla, Hojiblanca and Gordal are the main varieties[campus2018][ioc2004]
2–3.5 % NaOHLye (sodium hydroxide solution) · Stronger or weaker with ripeness, temperature, variety and water quality[ioc-web]
Water, to wash out the lye[campus2018]
10–12 % NaClSalt brine[lucena2014]
Starterspontaneous, or a Lactiplantibacillus pentosus starter

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.4 months – 3.8 months

Start
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What changes: Starting material: firm green olives picked before they colour

Step 1 of 7
Pick the green olives
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
L. pentosus
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: sound green olives of full size.

Flavour
very bitter (oleuropein)
Texture
firm
Colour
green to straw yellow

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Spanish style is the main table-olive method that uses lye first. The lye removes the bitterness in hours, so a fast lactic fermentation follows and is done in two to three months. Greek natural olives skip the lye and lose their bitterness slowly in brine over many months.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Picholine (American) styleLye of 3–3.5 °Bé for 8–72 h until it reaches three-quarters of the flesh, then 5–6 % and 7 % brines acidified with citric acid to pH 4.5; ready in 8–10 days with no fermentation.
  • Stuffed olivesPitted after fermenting and filled with pimiento, anchovy or other stuffings.

Safety

Under the International Olive Council trade standard, treated olives that are kept by their own salt and acid (not pasteurised or chilled) need a brine of at least 5 % salt, pH 4.0 or lower and at least 0.5 % lactic acid. A pH below 4.6 holds back Clostridium botulinum in fermented vegetables (Snyder et al.). Lye is caustic, so the olives are washed before they go into brine.

Hazards the sources name: Clostridium botulinum, held back once the pH is below 4.6.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [ioc2004] International Olive Oil Council 2004, Trade standard applying to table olives, COI/OT/NC no. 1 (section 3.1.2.1, packing brine)spec
  2. [ioc-web] International Olive Council, Table olives (processing methods)gov
  3. [lucena2014] Lucena-Padrós H., Caballero-Guerrero B., Maldonado-Barragán A. and Ruiz-Barba J.L. 2014, Microbial diversity and dynamics of Spanish-style green table-olive fermentations in large manufacturing companies through culture-dependent techniques, Food Microbiology 42, 154–165paper
  4. [campus2018] Campus M., Değirmencioğlu N. and Comunian R. 2018, Technologies and trends to improve table olive quality and safety, Frontiers in Microbiology 9, 617paper
  5. [fao134] Battcock M. and Azam-Ali S. 1998, Fermented fruits and vegetables, a global perspective, FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin 134, section 6.2.4 Green olivesgov
  6. [snyder2020] Snyder A., Breidt F., Andress E.L. and Ingham B.H. 2020, Manufacture of traditionally fermented vegetable products, best practice for small businesses and retail food establishments, Food Protection Trends 40(4), 251–263paper