CHARACTERIZATION of the MAIN SYRIAN OLIVE Cultivars

The olive sector is very important for the economy of Syria, becoming the fourth olive oil producing country in the world. A great part of the olive crop is processed to obtain oil; only 15-20% of the olives are processed into table olives. Olives are cultivated in different areas of Syria with greatly different climatic conditions (temperature and rainfall). Up to now, very few studies have been carried out to evaluate the morphological, phenological, bio-agronomical and productive characteristics of Syrian olive varieties and very little has been done to assess the characteristics of their oils and to characterise their genetic variability by using molecular marker. In this book, a description of the characteristics of these cultivars is reported.