🫒 Menara

Menara is a Moroccan olive cultivar, a clonal selection of Moroccan Picholine, the country's main cultivar. It was selected by Morocco's National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) at its centre in Marrakech, starting from local trees of the Haouz area. Together with its sister cultivar Haouzia, Menara was entered in Morocco's official catalogue of varieties.

Moroccan Picholine covers almost 90% of the country's olive area, so selecting the best clones matters for the whole sector. Under the Green Morocco programme (Plan Maroc Vert), Menara and Haouzia are propagated on a large scale. Menara is planted both in irrigated orchards and in rain-fed ones, which grow without watering.

According to the International Olive Council catalogue, the tree has medium vigour and a spreading canopy. Yields are high — 46.7 kilograms per tree — and alternate bearing, the swing between heavy and light years, is reduced. Cuttings root very well, at 70%. The cultivar is resistant to peacock spot, a leaf disease to which Moroccan Picholine itself is susceptible. The fruit is medium-sized, moderately elongated, asymmetrical and black when fully ripe.

Menara is used both for oil and for table olives. The oil has medium to intense green fruitiness, balanced bitterness and pungency, and notes of green almond and artichoke; it contains about 400 mg of polyphenols per kilogram. It is rich in oleic and other monounsaturated acids. A two-year study showed that the phenolic profiles of Menara and Haouzia oils are almost identical and resemble the oil of Moroccan Picholine.

How to read it. Menara and Haouzia count officially as two cultivars, yet their microsatellite genetic profiles in the IOC catalogue are identical. “Menara” on a bottle of Moroccan oil therefore points to a modern selection of Moroccan Picholine more than to a wholly separate cultivar.