Salonenque

The Salonenque, carrying the name of Salon-de-Provence, is a cultivar of olives grown primarily in Provence. Though it is used for producing oil, and gives a good yield, it is valued primarily as a table olive. It is produced as a so-called cracked olive, which means that the fruit is cracked to speed up the curing process.

The Salonenque is particularly common in Provence, especially in the Bouches-du-Rhône. In the Vallée des Baux it makes up over 60% of planted trees (as of 2004).^[1] It is also grown in South Australia, primarily in the area around Adelaide.^[2]

The cultivar is also known locally under several other names, including Courgeole, Plant de Salon, Salonen, Sauren, Sauzen, Selounen and Varagen.^[2]

It is a cultivar of weak vigour, with an erect growth form.^[3] The leaves are short and narrow, with an elliptic-lanceolate form.^[4] The olives are of medium-high weight, and of an ovoid quite symmetrical shape.^[5] They are rounded both at the apex and the base.^[3] The stone has a rugose, or wrinkled surface, with a rounded apex, a pointed base, and a mucro.^[3]

For use as table olives, the fruit is harvested relatively early, around 10 September. For oil production the harvest is later, in early November.^[6] When fully mature, the colour of the fruit is bright green.^[6]

The primary use of the Salonenque is as a table olive, more specifically as cracked olives (olives that are slit during the curing for the process to go faster).^[1] They cured olives are "fresh with a firm, meaty texture and a whiff of aromatic fennel".^[7] It is also used for production of oil, and gives a high yield (22–25%).^[6] The taste of the oil is sweet and delicate, and quite strong.^[6] The olive is freestone – the stone does not cling to the flesh.^[5] The Salonenque is used in several officially approved appellations: such as "AOC Vallée des Baux" and "AOC Pays d'Aix".^[6]

Salonenque is considered a cultivar of high and constant production, but has a low rooting ability.^[5] The Salonenque is partially self-fertile, but it can take advantage of nearby pollinators, among which are the Grossane and the Berruguette.^[6]

It has a high level of resistance to the major pests, with the exception of grubs of the olive moth Prays oleae and of the olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae.^[8] It has a good resistance also to cold, and can sustain temperatures down to −15 °C,^[6] but it is highly sensitive to wind.^[9]