Achievements and Challenges towards a Sustainable Conservation and Use of ‘Galega vulgar’ Olea europaea Variety

Abstract

The cultivated Olea europaea L., or olive tree, is an ancient crop extremely relevant for the bioeconomy of Mediterranean countries, especially for Portugal. With orchard modernization, Portugal has the potential to become the third-largest producer of olive oil over the next decade. In this country, the main national variety is ‘Galega vulgar,’ characterized by an excellent olive oil quality, rusticity and tolerance to drought. Nevertheless, its production has suffered a reduction due to replacement by foreign varieties. The present narrative review offers an overall perspective of present gaps and challenges to the conservation and use of ‘Galega vulgar.’ Existing information about traditional and innovative olive production systems, and the importance of life cycle thinking approaches for a sustainable olive chain were synthesized, focusing particularly in the last 10 years. Furthermore, the olive molecular characterization advances and their breeding importance were also evaluated considering their application to this Portuguese variety. To ensure an efficient and sustainable exploitation of the ‘Galega vulgar,’ we propose that efforts should concentrate on the characterization of the existing variability and development of genotype to phenotype prediction tools, integrating detailed molecular marker genotypic and environmental characterization, to support better informed conservation and breeding decisions in a multi-environment context.