Effects of alternate bearing on some quantitative and qualitative parameters of olive fruit and oil

Alternate bearing is one of the most important physiological phenomenon that in addition to uneven production during different years, reduces the yield and quality of the olive. In this study, the effect of alternate bearing on some fruit and oil parametrs was investigated. According to the results of this study, some of the olive fruit parameters including mean weight and meane fresh and dry weight of fruit, fruit length and diameter and fruit volume and quality parameters such as phenolics, anthocyanin, carotenoids and flavonoids contents are affected by alternate bearing. Considering the fact that olive is a dual purpose product, the qualitative parameters (free fatty acid (FFA), peroxide and spectrophotometric indices) of olive oil was also studied. The results showed that free fatty acid content was affected by alternate bearing and  was higher in off tresss, but peroxide was not affected by alternate bearing.