🫒 Picual
Spain's most widespread cultivar, dominant in Andalusia; gives oil that resists oxidation.
Picual is the most important Spanish olive cultivar for oil. According to the International Olive Council (IOC) catalogue, it covers over 850 thousand hectares in Andalusia and dominates Jaén province, with 97 % of orchards; in Córdoba and Granada it is 38 % and 40 %. It is the base of new plantings in Spain.
Jaén is the heart of Spanish olive oil: according to a 2012 IOC review, 40 % of Andalusia's olive mills were located here, and the province produced 32 % of the country's oil. Picual is also one of the six cultivars allowed for the protected-name oil Baena in neighbouring Córdoba.
The tree starts bearing early, gives high and steady yields, and pollinates itself. The fruit ripens early and comes off easily, so it is well suited to machine harvesting. Picual tolerates cold and salty or waterlogged soils, but copes poorly with drought and limestone soils; it is very susceptible to olive leaf spot and Verticillium wilt, and also suffers from the olive fruit fly.
Picual oil is very high in oleic acid and has a high stability index, meaning it takes a long time to turn rancid. The IOC describes it as fruity, with a clear bitterness and peppery notes.
Why it matters to you. If the bottle says Picual, expect a robust oil with bitterness and a peppery sting in the throat. That is not a flaw: under the IOC tasting method, bitterness and pungency are positive attributes of olive oil. The main advantage of the cultivar, as the IOC points out, is that its oil resists going rancid.
How it connects to Olives
🫒 Picual → used for → 🫒 Olive oil → made from → 🫒 Olives
Links
- What it contains
- 🧪 Oleic acid
- Traditions
- 🧑🤝🧑 Spaniards
- Part of
- 🫒 Olive cultivars
- Similar and different
- 🫒 Cornicabra, 🫒 Hojiblanca
- Where it grows
- 📍 Andalusia
- Where it is the main cultivar
- 📜 Sierra Mágina (olive oil), 📜 Aceite de Jaén (olive oil), 📜 Sierra de Cazorla (olive oil), 📜 Montes de Granada (olive oil), 📜 Baena (olive oil), 📜 Priego de Córdoba (olive oil), 📜 Sierra de Segura (olive oil), 📜 Poniente de Granada (olive oil), 📜 Sierra de Cádiz (olive oil), 📜 Mallorca (olive oil), 📜 Antequera (olive oil)
- What is made from it
- 🫒 Olive oil
Frequently asked questions
Is it true that bitterness in Picual oil is a sign it has gone bad?
No. Under the IOC tasting method, bitterness and pungency are positive attributes of olive oil. Spoiled oil gives itself away with a rancid smell, and Picual is in fact highly resistant to going rancid.
Which Spanish province is Picual's heartland?
Jaén, where it makes up 97 % of orchards, within Andalusia's 850 thousand hectares of the cultivar.
Is Picual a table olive?
The IOC catalogue lists only one use for it: oil.
Does Picual suit machine harvesting?
Yes: the fruit ripens early and comes off easily.
What flavour does the IOC give Picual oil?
Fruity, with a clear bitterness and peppery notes.
What to read next
- 📜 Aceite de Jaén (olive oil) — An EU protected geographical indication for extra virgin olive oil from the whole province of Jaén in Andalusia; Picual is over 90 % of the trees.
- 🫒 Cornicabra — Spain's second-largest oil cultivar by area: more than 270,000 hectares, mostly in La Mancha; the only cultivar of PDO “Montes de Toledo” oil.
- 🧑🤝🧑 Spaniards — The people of Spain; flamenco, human towers, Fallas, the world's largest vineyards and over a third of the world's olive oil.
- 📜 Sierra Mágina (olive oil) — An EU protected designation for extra virgin olive oil from the Sierra Mágina mountains in Jaén province; at least 90 % of the olives are Picual.
- 📜 Sierra de Cazorla (olive oil) — An EU protected designation of origin for extra virgin olive oil from Picual and Royal olives from nine municipalities in the east of Jaén province; acidity up to 0.7 %.
Similar
🫒 Arbequina · 🫒 Cornicabra · 🫒 Hojiblanca · 🫒 Oueslati · 🫒 Chetoui · 🫒 Manzanilla Cacereña
Sources
- International Olive Council, World Catalogue of Olive Varieties: Picual
- International Olive Council: Policies — Spain (2012)
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 544/2007, Annex II — summary of the PDO «Baena»
- International Olive Council: Sensory analysis — method for the organoleptic assessment of virgin olive oil, COI/T.20/Doc. No 15/Rev. 11 (2024)