Abstract
The wastes generated during the olive oil extraction process, even if presenting a negative impact for the environment, contain several bioactive compounds that have considerable health benefits. After suitable extraction and purification, these compounds can be used as food antioxidants or as active ingredients in nutraceutical and cosmetic products due to their interesting technological and pharmaceutical properties. The aim of this review, after presenting general applications of the different types of wastes generated from this industry, is to focus on the olive pomace produced by the two-phase system and to explore the challenging applications of the main individual compounds present in this waste. Hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, oleuropein, oleuropein aglycone, and verbascoside are the most abundant bioactive compounds present in olive pomace. Besides their antioxidant activity, these compounds also demonstrated other biological properties such as antimicrobial, anticancer, or anti-inflammatory, thus being used in formulations to produce pharmaceutical and cosmetic products or in the fortification of food. Nevertheless, it is mandatory to involve both industries and researchers to create strategies to valorize these byproducts while maintaining environmental sustainability.
Highlights
In the Mediterranean region, mainly in countries such as Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Syria, Morocco, and Tunisia, the olive oil production is one of the most important industries for their economy
A solid cake and two liquids, olive oil and large amounts of an aqueous liquid known as olive mill wastewater (OMWW) are generated
In the two-phase system, less water is used during the process which means that the volume of OMWW produced is reduced in comparison with the other process
Summary
In the Mediterranean region, mainly in countries such as Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Syria, Morocco, and Tunisia, the olive oil production is one of the most important industries for their economy. In the two-phase system, less water is used during the process which means that the volume of OMWW produced is reduced in comparison with the other process. In this system, besides olive oil, a semisolid residue (wet pomace or olive pomace) constituted by olive husk and OMWW is generated (Caporaso et al, 2018; Rodrigues et al, 2015). Some papers are found describing the composition of olive wastes and their applications in different areas (Bhatnagar et al, 2014; Galanakis, 2018; Rodrigues et al, 2015), there is no review that evaluated and compiled the possible applications for each of its main bioactive compounds, individually. The applications of the different wastes generated from the olive oil industry will be described. Phenolic characterization and quantification will be discussed and the challenging applications of the individual compounds will be carefully explored
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