Postharvest Morpho‐Physical Attributes of Physiologically Ripe Fruit From Six Major Mediterranean Olive ( Olea europaea L.) Cultivars Grown in Morocco

Olive pomological features (PF) are of key importance in postharvest handling and determine acceptance by the food industry and consumers. Here, PF were studied in fully ripe olives (89 on BBCH scale; Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt and CHemical industry) from six young cultivars. These belong to three breeding programs, namely Moroccan (“Haouzia,” “Menara,” and “Moroccan Picholine”), Spanish (“Arbequina” and “Arbosana”), and French (“Picholine Languedoc”). Olive fruits were harvested in the same orchard located in Tetouan (northern Morocco). PF consisted of 37 morpho‐physical and gravimetric parameters assessed in olive fruit, endocarp, and seed. Our findings reveal that data variability could be assigned mainly to the effects of fruit part and cultivar, explaining about 65% and 23%, respectively. Olive endocarp accounted for 13.7–24.2% of whole fruit mass, while olive seed represented 12.3%–18.2% of endocarp mass. The fruit mean values were as follows: mass 3.33 g, length 21.58 mm, width 15.57 mm, volume 2991 mm 3 , sphericity 81.47%, and tissue density 1.13 g cm −3 . The corresponding values for olive endocarp were: 0.53 g, 14.02 mm, 7.37 mm, 425 mm 3 , 67.17%, and 1.27 g cm −3 , respectively. On average, seed mass and the endocarp–seed mass ratio were 0.076 g and 7.24, respectively. “Menara” exhibited the best scores of pomological attributes, including the fruit mass, thickness, width, geometric mean diameter, surface area, and flesh mass, demonstrating its superior potential for commercial table olive production and industrial processing. Multivariate analysis grouped “Picholine Languedoc” closer to Moroccan cultivars than to Spanish ones. “Haouzia,” “Menara,” and “Picholine Languedoc” had the highest fruit and endocarp size compared to “Arbequina” and “Arbosana”. These findings provide valuable information for postharvest handling such as grading, transport, and industrial processing.