Ayvalık
also called Edremit Yağlık, Ayvalık YağlıkTürkiye’s second oil variety, from the Edremit Gulf on the north Aegean coast. Among the major Turkish cultivars it is the low-phenol, high-pigment one — a greener-looking oil with a gentler bitter and pungent load than Memecik.
| Also called | Edremit Yağlık, Ayvalık Yağlık |
|---|---|
| Main regions | Balıkesir (Edremit, Ayvalık, Gömeç, Burhaniye), Çanakkale, İzmir |
| Purpose | Oil; also green cracked table olives locally |
| Oleic acid | Roughly 65–76%, centring near 70–72% |
| Harvest | Late ripening; fruit holds on the tree |
| Designations | Ayvalık Zeytinyağı (Turkish PDO no. 88) |
| Watch out for | Sensitive to both drought and frost |
In the grove
Aroma and flavour descriptors
- 1Artichoke
- 2Green almond
- 3Green apple
- 4Grass
- 5Olive leaf
Descriptors from the Ayvalık Zeytinyağı PDO specification — a registration document, not a panel result. A published Turkish panel study did record one of its highest fruitiness medians for an Ayvalık sample.
Ordered by how often each recurs in the published varietal literature, not by measured intensity. Our panel has not scored a monovarietal Ayvalık oil, and no sensory panel data for it is published. 40 of the 40 varieties here read the same way.
Ayvalık oils in the library
From 3 producers
Ayvalık against the other Türkiye varieties
| Variety | Origin region | Used for | Polyphenols | Shelf stability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ayvalık | Edremit Gulf, Balıkesir | Oil | Not published | Not published |
| Memecik | Muğla, southern Aegean | Dual-purpose | 296–407 mg/kg | Not published |
| Gemlik | Gemlik, Bursa, southern Marmara | Dual-purpose | 244–491 mg/kg | Not published |
| Domat | Akhisar, Manisa | Table | ~351 mg/kg (single study) | Not published |
| Uslu | Akhisar, Manisa | Table | ~163 mg/kg (single study) | Not published |
| Nizip Yağlık | Nizip, Gaziantep, southeastern Anatolia | Oil | Not published | Not published |
| Sarıulak | Tarsus, Mersin | Dual-purpose | 602–836 mg/kg | Not published |
| Erkence | İzmir — Karaburun, Urla, Seferihisar | Dual-purpose | ~87 mg/kg | Not published |
Sources
- Ayvalık Zeytinyağı geographical indication record, Türk Patent
- Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Edremit olive extension sheet
- Minor components of Turkish monovarietal oils, Zeytin Bilimi
Every figure on this page carries a source. Where we could not find one we say so rather than estimating. Corrections are welcome and credited.