“Once we have genetic markers, breeding will be much easier and much
cheaper,” said Prof. Shimon Lavee, a renowned expert on oliveoil
cultivation, at the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Institute of
Plant Science and Genetics in Agriculture.
Lavee was addressing
scientists at a conference in his honor – Olive Culture: Past, Present
Future – held at the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of
Agriculture in Rehovot, and organized by the Israeli Olive Oil Board in
collaboration with the Volcani Institute and the International Olive
Oil Council.
By pinpointing genetic markers on various
subspecies of olives, it will be possible for researchers to develop
fruits better able to withstand diseases and generate a more attractive
product for consumers, he explained.
“I do think that the major effort at the moment has to be breeding for resistance, resistance of diseases,” Lavee said.
Despite
the fact that olives have been used for Mediterranean cooking and
healing for thousands of years, the breeding, planting and cultivating
processes associated with the fruit’s production is still evolving.
New
planting systems have been pushed forward all over the world, with
research ongoing as to the use of brackish and recycled water in
water scarce countries down to the very genetics of the fruit, Lavee
showed in his presentation.
“We still don’t know what are the
ideal distances in each country, in growing conditions in each country,
what are the planting systems, what are the training systems for
different varieties,” he said.
The study of the chemistry and
composition of olive oil began at the beginning of the last century,
but the idea of standardizing organoleptic benefits and drawbacks to
olive oils was initiated only with the development of the International
Olive Oil Council 40 years ago, Lavee explained.
Organoleptic
properties, which have now become key components associated with olive
oils, are qualities of a substance as experienced by the senses, such
as taste, color, odor or feel.
“It’s the only commodity in the world where ‘organoleptica’ is part of quality determination,” Lavee said.
Once
genetic markers are identified, scientists will be able to generate a
higher quality product through traditional cross-breeding, as genetic
engineering in olives is still not yet permitted by law.
“Imagine
if you could take the property of one olive and transfer it to another
variety without changing the rest of the properties like you do in
cross breeding, you might get the most advanced varieties possible,”
Lavee said.
In order for genetic engineering in olives to become
legal, however, researchers would need to be able to prove that they
were not involving bacteria or other outside organisms in the gene
transfer, he explained.
“If we could succeed in developing
methods to take the property from an olive and bring it to another olive
without having an intermediary of a bacteria or another plant, then we
could open up genetic engineering for olives,” Lavee told The
Jerusalem Post.
Yet, by identifying genetic markers and
acquiring a full picture of the olive genome, scientists soon will be
able to choose preferred varieties of olives, even without using
genetic engineering, Lavee explained. With such markers, researchers
would be able to choose among characteristics such as
disease-resistance strength and oil quality while performing classical
breeding, he added.
“The idea for the future is to develop
varieties where you need a minimum of spraying, minimum of affecting
the environment,” Lavee told the Post. “Even if we cross them in the
classical way, we have a better chance to get what we want to get.”
Scientists
in Israel and around the world are already making significant headway
in this process, and Lavee predicts that within another five years they
will have sufficient knowledge to move ahead.
“The genetic
processes will be the future,” added Dr. Adi Naali, manager at the
Israel Olive Oil Board. “We are working hand-in-hand with the science
to promote the innovation in this sector, to decrease the resources so
we can achieve better yields with less input while maintaining the high
quality of Israeli olive oil” Genetic markers, Naali said, will “give
us the next kick for the industry, so we can produce high quality
Israeli olive oil and supply the public with high, fresh and good
quality local Israeli olive oil.”
Once the genetic markers are
mapped out for use in even the classical breeding scenario, Lavee
stressed that consumers will have access to potentially cheaper and
higher quality olive oil products with attractive properties like
increased antioxidant presence.
“This is what we have to do.”
Source : The Jerusalem Post; by Sharon Udasin
Photo Caption : Aravah Ofanansky harvests olives
Photo Credit : Harvest of Light.