🫒 Leccino

Leccino is an Italian olive cultivar grown for oil, very widespread in Tuscany and other regions of Italy. Its genetic origin is unknown, but according to the World Catalogue of Olive Varieties of the International Olive Council (IOC), it is very close to Frantoio. In recent years Leccino has appeared in Umbria and Apulia, as well as in new olive-growing countries.

According to a 2012 IOC review, Leccino together with Frantoio and Carolea covers 370 thousand hectares, or 32.7 % of Italy's olive area. The cultivar is among those allowed for the protected-name oils Istria, on the peninsula of the same name, and Riviera Ligure in Liguria.

The tree is vigorous, cuttings root easily (about 65 %), it starts bearing early, and yields are high and steady. The cultivar cannot pollinate itself at all, so pollinators are planted nearby: Moraiolo, Pendolino, Maurino or Frantoio. The fruit ripens early and comes off easily, which makes machine harvesting convenient. Leccino is moderately tolerant of cold and Verticillium wilt, suffers little from olive knot and moderately from the olive fruit fly.

The oil yield is medium, about 18 %, and the oil contains roughly 76 % oleic acid. Its phenol content is low unless the fruit is picked early.

What the bottle tells you. Oil from late-harvested Leccino is low in phenols, the compounds behind bitterness and pungency, so it tastes softer. Anyone after more phenols should pick oil from early-harvested fruit, when Leccino holds the most of them.