Olive (Olea europaea) is a tree with edible fruit, leaves, and seeds. The fruit and leaves are sometimes used as medicine.

Olive leaf might lower blood pressure. Olive fruit might also be able to kill microbes, such as bacteria and fungus.

People use olive for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support its uses.

Don’t confuse olive with olive oil, the oil from olive fruit. These are not the same.

There is interest in using olive for a number of purposes, but there isn’t enough reliable information to say whether it might be helpful.

When taken by mouth: Olive fruits are commonly consumed as food. But there isn’t enough reliable information to know if it is safe to use the fruit in larger amounts as medicine. Olive leaf extract is possibly safe when used appropriately.

Special precautions & warnings:

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Olive fruits are commonly consumed as food. There isn’t enough reliable information to know if olive is safe to use as medicine when pregnant or breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and stick to food amounts.

It is not known if this product interacts with any medicines.

Before taking this product, talk with your health professional if you take any medications.

There are no known interactions with herbs and supplements.

There are no known interactions with foods.

Olive fruit is commonly consumed in foods. As medicine, olive leaf extracts and olive fruit extracts have been used. Speak with a healthcare provider to find out what type of product and dose might be best for a specific condition.

Common Olive, Feuille d’Olivier, Green Olive, Jaitun, Manzanilla Olive Fruit, Oleae Folium, Olive Fruit, Olive Fruit Pulp, Olive Leaf, Olive Pulp, Olives, Olivo, Pulpe d’Olive.

To learn more about how this article was written, please see the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database methodology.

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