UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



I BULLETIN No. 803 



Contribution from the Bureau of Clieinistry 

 CARL L. ALSBERG, Chief 



.^f^'^^U 



Washington, D. C. 



January 24, 1920 



A CHEMICAL STUDY OF THE RIPENING AND PICKLING 

 OF CALIFORNIA OLIVES. 



By R. W. Hilts, Chief of Western Food and Drug Inspection District, and 

 R. S. HoLLiNGSHEAD, Juuior Chemist, San Francisco Station.^ 



CONTENTS. 



Olive culture in California 



Varieties of the olive grown in Cali- 

 fornia 



Olive-picking season 



Changes in composition during ripen- 

 ing 



The plcliling of olives 



Page. 



Purpose of investigation 



Plan of investigation 



Methods of examination 



Results of examination of fresh olives. 

 Results of examination of pickled 



olives 



Summary 



Page. 



9 



13 



19 

 24 



I 



OLIVE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



With the single exception of Arizona, olive culture in this country 

 is limited to California, where the tree was introduced in the early 

 days by Spanish priests, the first grove being planted in San Diego 

 in 1T69.2 This origin is recorded in the name of what is to-day the 

 most popular variety, the Mission olive, a descendant of the early 

 plantings. The culture of the olive has extended until there are trees 

 in 38 counties, the important counties being Eiverside, Tulare, Te- 

 hama, Los Angeles, Butte, Fresno, San Bernardino, and Shasta. In 

 the spring of 1916 a State census showed 834,939 bearing and 515,221 

 nonbearing trees.^ In general, the olive-growing sections may be 

 roughly grouped into three districts. The northern district, in the 

 Sacramento Valley, centers in Butte County, with some groves as far 

 south as Sacramento, and many fresh plantings in southern Shasta 

 County, the farthest north. This district is one of the most im- 

 portant, and contains an enormous number of trees not yet bearing. 

 The central district is in the San Joaquin Valley, principally in 



1 The authors wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to V. B. Bonney for a portion of 

 the analytical work done in 1916, and to W. W. Karnan for a part of that conducted in 

 1914. 



2 Ann. Rept. Calif. Development Board for 1916. San Francisco, 1917. 



130996°— 20 



