Khaberni - Salem Al-Khasawneh, the director of agriculture in Koura district, confirmed that manually picking olives is the best method for obtaining high-quality olive oil.
Al-Khasawneh told the Jordanian News Agency (Petra), that 98% of olive oil is collected manually, which helps in obtaining excellent oil, although the costs of manual picking are high, ranging between 25 to 33% of the final product's value, and represent about 40% of the total production costs.
Al-Khasawneh pointed out that the process of picking olives varies depending on the purpose; if the goal is green pickling, the fruits should be picked when they are full-sized and their color changes to light green. However, if black pickling is the goal, it is preferable to wait for two weeks after the fruits have fully colored black to ensure color stability when placed in a brine solution.
As for picking olives for oil production, it is necessary to wait until 75% of the fruits have turned black, as the fruits need at least two weeks to increase their ability to release the oil, which is located in small pockets inside the cells of the fruit and can only be extracted after accumulating several drops to form a large drop that facilitates its extraction in the press.
