The Coratina cultivar, also known as 'Racioppo di Corato', is among the most appreciated for the nutritional properties and organoleptic characteristics of the oil produced. It easily adapts to the most diverse olive-growing environments and has an enviable earliness of production.
Testifying to the ancient origins of the Coratina cultivar is the current presence of centuries-old trees throughout Apulia. The olive trees of the Coratina cultivar are recognisable by their thin and short fruiting branches, their medium-large elliptical and slightly asymmetrical olives, their lance-shaped leaves that, moved by the wind, show their silvery pages almost as if they were the waves of a silver sea.
The colour of the olives changes as they develop until they turn purplish: this is the stage when the olives reach their peak of ripeness. The start of the harvest depends on several factors, such as the growing area, the climate and the extra virgin olive oil to be produced.
If the olives are harvested at the end of October, when the fruits are greenest and not fully ripe, their pressing produces an extra virgin olive oil of excellent quality (at the expense of quantity), decidedly more intense and with more persistent fruity scents. The yield of the Coratina is very high, in fact, it can even reach 24% from medium-sized fruits (4 grams).
The Coratina holds the record for low acidity and richness in polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that prevent the onset of diseases of the cardiovascular system and delay cellular ageing.