The Côa Parque Foundation has unveiled the catalogue that was created after the OLIVECOA project, which examined the roughly 150 century-old olive trees in the area. To gather all the information required on the features of the olive trees in this area, a biometric analysis of the trunk and crown, and a morphological characterisation of the leaf, fruit, and stone, were conducted on each plant.

As the IPB researcher, Nuno Rodrigues explained, “This project covered around 150 olive trees. We not only studied the scientific value of these plants, but also the innovation that resulted in the production of new olive products and the creation of new tourist itineraries so that visitors can discover this region, its gastronomy, and landscape”.

Nuno Rodrigues claims that in order to gather all the information required on the features of the olive trees in this area, a biometric analysis of the trunk and crown was conducted on each plant, in addition to the morphological characterisation of the leaf, fruit, and stone. As he shared, “After this study, the olives from each plant [olive tree] were harvested and their oil was extracted to study their organoleptic characteristics”.

After all was said and done, a catalogue was produced that had 65 of the most representative olive trees out of the 150 that were mentioned. Additionally, the OLIVECOA project allowed for the preparation of a number of goods that local economic agents might use.