Country: Italy
Purpose: Oil
Synonyms: “Bresa fina”, “Comune”, “Correggiolo”, “Crognolo”, “Frantoiano”, “Gentile”, “Infrantoio”, “Laurino”, “Nostrato”, “Oliva lunga”, “Pendaglio”, “Pignattello”, “Raggio”, “Raggiolo”, “Rajo”, “Razza”, “Razzo”, “Solciaro”, “Stringona”.
Distribution: 5 continents
A historic cultivar of Mediterranean olive growing
In Europe, Frantoio is a historically rooted cultivar, with a well-established presence especially in Italian olive landscapes and in other Mediterranean territories with a long tradition. Here, the cultivar fits into long-standing farming systems, where the relationship between the tree, agronomic management, and rural communities has been built over time.
Frantoio’s European presence is not the outcome of a recent migration, but of territorial continuity that has allowed the cultivar to become a benchmark for oil quality and for adaptation to hilly and piedmont settings.
Within the Gardens of Peace, Europe represents the place of origin and rooting: the reference point from which to read the cultivar’s later movements without separating tradition from innovation.
Selective introduction in Mediterranean contexts
In Africa, Frantoio is present in a selective way along the Mediterranean belts of the continent’s North, where olive growing combines local cultivars and introduced ones in technically managed orchards.
In these territories, the cultivar is used as a comparative option and for diversification, entering already-structured agricultural landscapes rather than acting as a dominant cultivar.
Its African presence reflects a measured movement, guided by climatic compatibility and agronomic management, consistent with consolidated olive-growing systems.
Presence within new extra-Mediterranean olive sectors
In the Americas, Frantoio is documented in territories where olive growing has developed through modern, planned orchards, especially in temperate-dry areas across both North and South America.
Here, the cultivar is often chosen as a European-origin reference, included in production systems oriented to quality and long-term stability, with local adjustments linked to water management and the farming calendar.
Within TGoP, Frantoio in the Americas tells a story of skills and knowledge moving, where the cultivar travels together with agronomic models and producing communities.
Experimental presence and introduction projects
In Asia, Frantoio is present mainly in experimental contexts and in programmes introducing olive cultivation into territories that are not historically Mediterranean.
The cultivar is used as a reference option for varietal comparison, within farming systems where olive cultivation is still consolidating and depends strongly on technical and institutional choices.
In this perspective, Frantoio represents a movement driven by the present, more than by tradition, consistent with territories in transformation.
New olive landscapes in temperate regions
In Oceania, Frantoio is documented in temperate areas with a Mediterranean imprint, especially in Australia and New Zealand, within modern orchards.
In these contexts, the cultivar is adopted as a reference variety for building new olive identities, with adaptations linked to reversed seasonality and farm scale.
Within the Gardens of Peace, Oceania represents migration as future-building, where the olive tree helps shape agricultural landscapes that are still in the making.
Agronomic and commercial considerations: This is a variety of high and constant productivity. Appreciated for its adaptability, its high rhizogenesis and its early entry into production. This variety is self-compatible, even if it improves its productivity with the presence of suitable pollinators such as the “Leccino” or “Moraiolo” varieties. The ripening period is late and gradual. The oil content is medium, but with a very appreciated and stable fruitiness over time. It has a rather vigorous and, at the same time, very abundant fruiting. It is a plant very sensitive to the olive leaf spot (Cycloconium oleaginum), to the olive knot (Pseudomonas savastanoi) and to cold temperatures.
Functional summary for the project
Within The Garden of Peace, the Frantoio variety serves as a bridge between local tradition and international dialogue.
Originating in central Italy and deeply tied to Tuscan olive culture, Frantoio represents one of the most recognizable expressions of high-quality European olive growing, able over time to adapt to different territories while maintaining identity and agronomic value.
Within the project, Frantoio is strategic because it enables you to:
-Tell the story of the evolution of European olive growing from a local practice to a shared heritage;
-Show how a cultivar can travel across continents without losing its bond with its origin;
-Link traditional European farming systems with new production areas in Africa, the Americas, and Oceania.
Its presence in the Gardens of Peace supports a narrative in which agricultural innovation does not replace tradition, but transforms it into a common language, making Frantoio an effective tool for educational, institutional, and international cooperation activities.
Symbolic note for TGoP
Within the symbolic framework of The Garden of Peace, Frantoio represents the olive tree that carries its origin with it.
It is a variety born in a specific territory, yet along its path of diffusion it does not sever the thread that connects it to the culture that generated it.
Frantoio embodies the idea of a peace that does not erase differences, but makes them recognizable and able to dialogue. Its spread to other continents is not agricultural colonization, but the sharing of knowledge, quality, and a way of cultivating that preserves memory and responsibility.
Within the project, Frantoio becomes a symbol of dynamic continuity: an olive tree that moves, adapts, yet remains faithful to a balance made of human work, landscape, and long timeframes.
It reminds us that peace is not born from homogenization, but from the ability to bring one’s identity into relationship with different territories and communities, building mutual respect through the care of the land.