“Perhaps you’ve asked yourself this question over a plate of olives served as appetizers.
The olive comprises a peduncle or stalk, the exocarp or skin, the mesocarp or flesh, the endocarp or stone, and the embryo or seed. As far as its colour is concerned, this is governed by several predominant pigments, such as chlorophyll, xanthophyll or antocians.
It is precisely the chlorophyll that gives olives their green colour. The younger the olive, the greater the presence of this component. But this drops progressively during maturation. For this reason, depending on the variety, olives changes from intense green, soon after budding, to yellowish green as the fruit develops. Purple tones usually appear at the beginning of maturarion, slowly becoming bluish purple when they reach total maturity, or even bluish black.”