#Finsubito news – Puglia, the queen of extra virgin olive oil

The Puglia is the first olive-growing region in Italy: 347,470 hectares of olive groves in 2024, equal to approximately 30% of the national surface area, and 161,009 olive growing companies, 26% of the Italian total (ISMEA, 2025a). On average for the 2020-2023 campaigns the region produced 149,008 tonnes of oil, half that of Italy. On this production base rests a heritage of native cultivars which has no equivalent in extension: Coratina, Ogliarola Barese, Cima di Mola, Peranzana, Ogliarola Garganica, Ogliarola Salentina, Cellina di Nardò. Five protected designations of origin and one protected geographical indication establish the production rules. The article brings together the most recent data on production and market, the history of Apulian oil, the profiles of the cultivars in the light of scientific studies and the contents of the regulations in force.

Production and areas in ISMEA data

The olive tree alternates years of charging and discharging, and the Apulian volumes reflect this. The Institute of Services for the Agricultural Food Market (ISMEA) recorded 201,800 tonnes in the 2023/2024 campaign and 111,999 tonnes in the 2024/2025 campaign, when national production stopped at 248,394 tonnes (ISMEA, 2025a). Even in a poor year, therefore, Puglia provided the 45% of Italian oil. The internal geography is clear: in 2024/2025 the province of Bari produced 41.495 kt and that of Barletta-Andria-Trani 35.007 kt, together over two-thirds of the regional total, followed by Brindisi (13.541 kt), Foggia (13.255 kt), Taranto (4.910 kt) and Lecce (3.790 kt) (Regione Puglia, 2025).

The campaign 2025/2026 brought Italian production back to 325,000 tonnes, 31% more than the previous year, in an international context that has returned to ordinary levels (ISMEA, 2026). For 2026/2027, at the moment, there are no official ISMEA estimates. The national framework has over one million hectares, of which approximately 289,000 are organic, 620,000 companies and more than 4,200 oil mills (ISMEA, 2026).

Foreign markets and certified value

THE’Italy is the second largest exporter in the world of olive oil, with a share of 20%. In 2024 the export reached 344,000 tonnes for 3.09 billion euros, up 6.8% in volume and 42.6% in value (ISMEA, 2025a). The United States absorbs 29% of volumes, ahead of Germany (13%), Spain (8%), France (6%), Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom (4% each). In the first half of 2026, greater internal availability reduced imports; sales decreased towards the United States and Germany and increased towards the United Kingdom, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium. The prices of Italian extra virgin olive oil, although decreasing, remain higher than those of Spain, Greece and Tunisia (ISMEA, 2026). An overview is available in the GIFT analysis on production, export and market of Italian olive oil.

Public sources do not precisely isolate the Apulian share of national exports, since part of the regional oil is packaged and shipped by operators from other regions. However, the weight of Puglia in the certified product: alone Terra di Bari PDO represented 30% of the volumes of Geographical Indication certified oil in Italy in 2023 (ISMEA, 2025a). In 2024, Italian PDO and PGI oils remained marginal – 16,190 kt, €194 million in production value and €102 million in exports – as reported in the previous GIFT article on PDO economy. Designations account for 5% of national production (ISMEA, 2025a).

From the amphorae of Brindisi to the cisterns of Gallipoli

Olive consumption in Puglia is documented from XV century B.C. and olive growing was consolidated in Roman times. Cato mentions the Sallentina, a small, dark table olive, and Varro describes the merchants who brought oil, wine and wheat to the sea from Brindisi and Apulia on the back of a donkey. Orazio compares the olives of Taranto to those of Venafro, then the qualitative reference of Roman Italy (Fioriello, 2021). THE’archaeology confirms the sources. In the Brindisi countryside, in Apani and Giancola, they operated at the end of the 2nd century and in I century B.C. furnaces specialized in oil amphorae called ‘brindisine’, whose diffusion allows Apulian oil to be followed along the Mediterranean routes. The most recent census identifies 31 Roman-era contexts linked to the oil supply chain in Puglia, 18 of which in the northern sector of the region (Fioriello, 2021).

A second, lesser-known chapter opens in Early Modern Period. The oil of Kingdom of Naples became the leading item of southern exports and served mainly soap factories, wool manufactures and lighting. A study of approximately 150 contracts stipulated in Naples in the period 1651-1681 indicates Gallipoli as a delivery port in 117 cases: its oil clarification tanks were known throughout the Mediterranean, and in those decades the English merchants took over the control of the trade from the Venetians (Montaudo, 2021). From that season remain the underground oil mills, dug into the limestone bank. The one in Palazzo Granafei, in Gallipoli, is an example of eighteenth-century oil factories (Ministry of Culture, n.d.).

Continuity can also be read in the landscape. The Region protects the monumental olive trees by virtue of their productive function, ecological and hydrogeological defence, and as distinctive elements of regional history and culture (Puglia Regional Law 14/2007, art. 1). A single survey campaign counted over 300,000 of them (Puglia Region, 2017).

Olive-growing territories and native cultivars

The region is divided into areas with distinct varietal identities. In northern Bari area the dominant variety is the Coratina, originally from Corato (Bari), with late ripening and constant productivity: the drupes weigh on average 4.7 grams and the oil content reaches 27% (Macciola & De Leonardis, 2022). Further south, towards Bitonto and the Murgia dei Trulli, are the Cima di Bitonto – also called Ogliarola barese – and the Cima di Mola. In Capitanata the Alto Tavoliere is the territory of Peranzana, whose synonym ‘Provenzale’, reported in the Dauno PDO specification, recalls its traditional origin; on the Gargano the prevails Ogliarola garganica. Cerignola gives its name to Bella di Cerignola, large-caliber table olive protected as La Bella della Daunia PDO, whose oil has only recently been characterized (Cossignani et al., 2025). Finally, in Salento, Cellina di Nardò e Ogliarola salentina they constituted approximately 85% of olive trees (Pavan et al., 2021).

The sensory profiles are described in the specifications. The one from Terra d’Otranto DOP attributes hints of olive leaf, freshly mowed grass and thistle or artichoke to the Ogliarola Salento, and notes of tomato and berries to the Cellina di Nardò. Coratina gives intense fruity, bitter and spicy oils; Peranzana, Ogliarola garganica and Cima di Mola sweeter and more harmonious oils.

Table 1. Native cultivars of Puglia: areas, characteristics and denominations

Scientific evidence on oil profiles

The research confirms with analytical methods what the tasting suggests. The comparison of the metabolic profiles in nuclear magnetic resonance of the three Dauno PDO cultivars shows oils of Coratina richer in squalene, oleic acid and polyphenols, while Ogliarola garganica e Peranzana they have more polyunsaturated fatty acids and fewer phenolic compounds; in Peranzana the age of the trees, young or centuries-old, also affects the composition (Angilè et al., 2026). Out of 900 oils extracted from individual trees in the provinces of Bari and Foggia, Coratina maintained a constant profile in two consecutive harvests; Ogliarola, Cima di Mola and Peranzana, used by oil millers to sweeten their blends, were more affected by the vintage (Girelli et al., 2016).

The phenolic content explains the stability of the oils of Coratina: two monovarietal samples, followed through chemical parameters and oxidation tests, were found suitable for consumption up to six years after production (Macciola & De Leonardis, 2022). In Salento, the analysis of eight local genotypes grown in the same environment, including Cellina di Nardò and Ogliarola di Lecce, measured an oleuropein content varying up to four times, from 33.80 to 152.32 mg/kg, and a antioxidant activity correlated with total phenols (Negro et al., 2019). The cultivar, in summary, is the first quality factor.

The data has a regulatory impact. The health claim ‘The polyphenols in olive oil contribute to the protection of blood lipids from oxidative stress’ is permitted only for oil which contains at least 5 mg of hydroxytyrosol and its derivatives per 20 g (Regulation (EU) 432/2012, Annex).

Five PDOs and a PGI: what the regulations provide

The Collina di Brindisi PDO, registered in 1996, is the oldest: it was born in eight municipalities of the upper Brindisi area (Carovigno, Ceglie Messapica, Cisternino, Fasano, Ostuni, San Michele Salentino, San Vito dei Normanni, Villa Castelli) from Ogliarola for at least 70% (EC reg. 1263/96). Two names followed in 1997. The Dauno PDO it must be accompanied by one of four geographical mentions: Alto Tavoliere, from Peranzana for at least 80%; Basso Tavoliere, from Coratina for at least 70%; Gargano, from Ogliarola garganica for at least 70%; Sub-Apennines, from Ogliarola, Coratina and Rotondella for at least 70% (disciplinary, article 2). There Terra di Bari PDO provides for the mentions Castel del Monte, Bitonto and Murgia dei Trulli e delle Grotte, based on Coratina, Cima di Bitonto and Cima di Mola (Regulation (EC) 2325/97).

The Terra d’Otranto DOP, registered in 1998, covers the entire province of Lecce and part of those of Taranto and Brindisi. The specification updated in 2025 reserves the name for oil obtained at least 60% from Cellina di Nardò, Ogliarola Leccese or Salento, Leccino, FS-17 (Favolosa), Lecciana and Leccio del Corno, and sets the harvest deadline at 15 November (MASAF decree 30.4.2025). GIFT illustrated its contents in the article on Salento oil PDO and the new regulation. The Terre Tarentine PDO, registered in 2004, covers the western side of the province of Taranto and is based on Leccino, Coratina, Ogliarola and Frantoio (Regulation (EC) 1898/2004).

THE’Puglia Oil PGI, registered in 2019, covers the entire regional territory. At least 70% of the olives must come from Cellina di Nardò, Cima di Bitonto (or Ogliarola barese, or Ogliarola garganica), Cima di Melfi, Frantoio, Ogliarola salentina (or Cima di Mola), Coratina, Favolosa (or FS-17), Leccino and Peranzana. The olives are pressed within 36 hours of harvesting, at a temperature not exceeding 27°C. Upon certification, the oil must have acidity not exceeding 0.40%, peroxides not exceeding 10 meq O₂/kg and total biofenols not less than 300 mg/kg; harvest month and year appear on the label (Mipaaf measure 24.12.2019). It is among the few Italian regulations to set a minimum threshold of phenols as an access requirement.

Table 2. Extra virgin olive oils of Puglia with geographical indication

Salento, regeneration with resistant cultivars

Since 2013, Salento has coexisted with Xylella fastidiosa subspecies pauca, the bacterium whose role Apulian research has demonstrated in the rapid drying of the olive tree (Saponari et al., 2017). The same research has shown the way out. Leccino e FS-17 have shown characteristics of resistance, on which long-term strategies are based (Saponari et al., 2019). The exploration of the affected olive groves then identified thirty asymptomatic or slightly symptomatic plants, mostly genetically similar to Leccino and FS-17, and defined partial resistance in Frantoio and Nocellara Messinese (Pavan et al., 2021). Today four resistant or tolerant cultivars have permanently entered the Terra d’Otranto PDO specification, and the new plants are bringing the province of Lecce back into production. Food Times reviewed the data of a decade of monitoring.

In summary

Puglia alone produces about half of Italian oil and has a varietal heritage documented by two thousand years of sources and, today, by metabolomic analyses. Coratina offers oils rich in phenols and long lasting; Peranzana, Ogliarole and Cima di Mola complete the range with sweeter profiles; Salento regenerates its olive groves with cultivars selected by research. Five PDOs and one PGI translate these differences into verifiable rules, and the biophenol threshold of Olio di Puglia PGI links the specification to a health claim authorized by European Union law.

Dario Dongo

Credit cover: Consorzio tutela Olio Terra di Bari PDO – oliva Coratina

References

European Union regulatory sources

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1263/96 of 1 July 1996 supplementing the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92. OJ L 163, 2.7.1996, p. 19–21. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/1996/1263/oj

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2325/97 of 24 November 1997 supplementing the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92. OJ L 322, 25.11.1997, p. 33–35. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/1997/2325/oj

Commission Regulation (EC) No 644/98 of 20 March 1998 supplementing the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92. OJ L 87, 21.3.1998, p. 8–9. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/1998/644/oj

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1898/2004 of 29 October 2004 supplementing the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2400/96 as regards the entry of a name in the ‘Register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications’ (Terre Tarentine) — (PDO). OJ L 328, 30.10.2004, p. 66. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2004/1898/oj

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2202 of 16 December 2019 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications ‘Olio di Puglia’ (PGI). OJ L 332, 23.12.2019. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2019/2202/oj

Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 of 16 May 2012 establishing a list of permitted health claims made on foods, other than those referring to the reduction of disease risk and to children’s development and health. Consolidated text: 08/20/2025. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/432/2025-08-20

Italian and regional regulatory sources

Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry. Decree 30 April 2025. Approval of the ordinary changes to the production specifications of the protected designation of origin ‘Terra d’Otranto’. Official Journal, General series, n. 110 of 14.5.2025.

Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. Measure dated 24 December 2019. Registration of the name ‘Olio di Puglia’ PGI in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (20A00198), with attached production specification.

Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. Production regulations for extra virgin olive oil with the ‘Dauno’ designation of origin.

Apulia Region. Regional Law 4 June 2007, no. 14. Protection and valorisation of the landscape of monumental olive trees in Apulia. Official Bulletin of the Apulia Region no. 83, supplement of 7.6.2007.

Apulia Region. (2017). Regional Government Resolution 5 September 2017, no. 1413. Official Bulletin of the Apulia Region no. 107 of 15.9.2017.

Statistical and market sources

ISMEA. (2025a, July). Sector factsheet. Olive oil. https://www.ismeamercati.it/flex/files/1/6/f/D.cff78df6f341746db73f/Scheda_OLIO_agosto_2025.pdf

ISMEA. (2026, 24 September). Terra Madre, ISMEA: Italian olive oil towards the new campaign. Markets, prices and prospects. https://www.ismeamercati.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/13966

Puglia Region, Statistical Office. (2025). ISMEA. Olive oil trends. July 2025. https://feamp.regione.puglia.it/web/ufficio-statistico/-/ismea.-tendenze-dell-olio-di-oliva.-luglio-2025

Scientific studies

Angilè, F., Fazzi, M. C., Girelli, C. R., Migoni, D., & Fanizzi, F. P. (2026). ¹H NMR metabolic profile discrimination of three monovarietal olive oils from cultivars of the ‘Dauno’ PDO including Peranzana young and secular tree comparisons. Molecules, 31(13), 2248. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules31132248

Cossignani, L., Calderini, O., Marinotti, A., Orrico, E., Domesi, A., Massaccesi, L., Cucina, M., & Bufacchi, M. (2025). Preliminary evaluation of the nutraceutical properties in monovarietal extra-virgin olive oils and monitoring their stability during storage. Molecules, 30(15), 3143. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30153143

Girelli, C. R., Del Coco, L., Papadia, P., De Pascali, S. A., & Fanizzi, F. P. (2016). Harvest year effects on Apulian EVOOs evaluated by ¹H NMR based metabolomics. PeerJ, 4, e2740. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2740

Macciola, V., & De Leonardis, A. (2022). Exceptional long-term durability of Coratina monovarietal extra virgin olive oil evaluated through chemical parameters and oxidative stability test. OCL, 29, 24. https://doi.org/10.1051/ocl/2022014

Negro, C., Aprile, A., Luvisi, A., Nicolì, F., Nutricati, E., Vergine, M., Miceli, A., Blando, F., Sabella, E., & De Bellis, L. (2019). Phenolic profile and antioxidant activity of Italian monovarietal extra virgin olive oils. Antioxidants, 8(6), 161. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox8060161

Pavan, S., Vergine, M., Nicolì, F., Sabella, E., Aprile, A., Negro, C., Fanelli, V., Savoia, M. A., Montilon, V., Susca, L., Delvento, C., Lotti, C., Nigro, F., Montemurro, C., Ricciardi, L., De Bellis, L., & Luvisi, A. (2021). Screening of olive biodiversity defines genotypes potentially resistant to Xylella fastidiosa. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12, 723879. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.723879

Saponari, M., Boscia, D., Altamura, G., Loconsole, G., Zicca, S., D’Attoma, G., Morelli, M., Palmisano, F., Saponari, A., Tavano, D., Savino, V. N., Dongiovanni, C., & Martelli, G. P. (2017). Isolation and pathogenicity of Xylella fastidiosa associated with the olive quick decline syndrome in southern Italy. Scientific Reports, 7, 17723. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-17957-z

Saponari, M., Giampetruzzi, A., Loconsole, G., Boscia, D., & Saldarelli, P. (2019). Xylella fastidiosa in olive in Apulia: where we stand. Phytopathology, 109(2), 175–186. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-08-18-0319-FI

Historical and cultural sources

Fioriello, C. S. (2021). Oil for lamps. Study contexts in Roman-age Apulia. In Light in Context. Representation, Production and Use of Light in Ancient Spaces, Panel 3.17, Archaeology and Economy in the Ancient World 19 (pp. 85–99). Propylaeum. https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.638.c10480

Ministry of Culture. (n.d.). Underground Oil Mills of Palazzo Granafei. https://cultura.gov.it/luogo/frantoi-ipogei-di-palazzo-granafei

Montaudo, A. (2021). Sale on documents and transaction costs in the international oil trade of the South (1651-1681). Economic History, XXIV(1-2), 73–106. https://storiaeconomica.it/pdf/2021.1-2.073.pdf