Heart-Shaped Seed

A Life That Belongs To Us In The Mediterranean

There are 400 grams of olive oil per capita in the world. In other words, we have a life elixir in the Mediterranean.

The “tavsan yuregi” (rabbit heart) olive of Antalya is mainly characterized by that the fruit can be easily separated from the seed, and that it is big and heart-shaped, longitudinally and transversely symmetrical and has an oval tip. Its name comes from the seed that looks like a rabbit’s heart. Due to the fact it has a strong structure in terms of development and is sensitive to external factors, it requires special attention during transportation and processing of fully ripe fruit. Damage during harvesting is lower than other olive species. Because of the impact of Taurus Mountains on the climate and the climate of Mediterranean in terms of geographical area, the saplings planted in the regions outside Antalya do not have the same color, quality and aroma. Taurus Mountains, which separate Antalya from the inner regions just like a wall, interrupt the airflow and form the unique high humidity and temperature conditions. Due to this geological structure, the grain size and fleshiness ratio of “tavsan yuregi” (rabbit heart) olive of Antalya are higher than other species.
 

Tavsan Yuregi (Rabbit Heart) Olive Oil Is Just Like A Medicine

It has been shown that the ratio of “polyphenol” (natural antioxidant found in plants), known to have anticarcinogenic effect, is three times higher in tavsan yuregi (rabbit heart) olive oil and is as effective as a medicine in this respect. This miracle tree has many benefits for the people in Mediterranean and the Mediterranean culture. For this reason, the olive tree is not just a tree or its products are not just food. They are all a part of a thousand-year-old culture, a tradition, in other words, the life in short. We did not know the importance of minor components, also called as health components, contained in the olive fruit, which is just like a complete pharmacy warehouse, and how valuable they are until 15-20 years ago. The production technologies and procedures started to change as we learned. In this way, supply of product with high health components to the consumers has become the target for both table olive and olive oil, but especially for olive oil.
 

Tavsan Yuregi (Rabbit Heart) Olive Oil Has Been Officially Registered

“Antalya Tavsan Yuregi (Rabbit Heart) Olive”, for which Antalya Commodity Exchange has started the R&D studies in 2013 and applied to Turkish Patent and Trademark Office for the geographical indication certificate in 2014, has been issued with the geographical sign certificate on September 6, 2018. With the tavsan yuregi (rabbit heart) olive, the number of products issued with geographical indication certificate in Antalya has increased to six. Handmade rugs of Dosemealti, oranges of Finike, piyaz (a kind of bean salad) of Antalya, karyagdi (speckled) pear of Korkuteli, loquat of Alanya have been issued with geographical indication certificates before.

13 percent of the world olive production (around 350 thousand tons) and 6 percent of olive oil production (180- 200 thousand tons) belong to our country. 30% of the olives obtained are consumed as table olives and 70% as oil olives. Although the olive oil production of our country amounts to about 8-10 thousand ton, the potential of olive production of our city is higher.

In particular, our tavsan yuregi (rabbit heart) (Polyphenol- Olea Sental) olive and olive oil, which are specific to Antalya, are the source of pride with ranking first across the world. Tavsan yuregi (rabbit heart) olive of Antalya is also taken under preservation by registration of geographical indication.

Olive cultivation has been made in Antalya since the Pamphylia period. It is also known that the winners of the competitions held in ancient times were awarded with olive oil in amphoras.

Olives, one of the rare fruits that is mentioned in all holy books, will soon become a more important promotion instrument.