Abstract
Olive pomace, an olive oil processing byproduct, can be upcycled and meet the current demand for natural and sustainable food ingredients. In this work, a patented process was used to obtain a functional ingredient from different olive pomaces. The nutritional, chemical and antioxidant profiles, as well as the antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, E. coli and C. albicans, were investigated for the first time. The amount of phenolics ranged between 3.1 and 3.8 g gallic acid eq./100 g in all samples and flavonoids between 2.0 and 3.2 g catechin eq/100 g. No significant differences were found regarding the antioxidant activity. The total fat varied between 5 and 11%, α-tocopherol being the major vitamer and oleic acid the main fatty acid. The protein and ash contents were 1–4% and 10–17%, respectively. The functional ingredient with a higher hydroxytyrosol content (220 mg/100 g) also presented the best minimal inhibitory concentration against the tested bacteria. No activity against C. albicans was verified. This new functional ingredient presents the potential to be used as a natural preservative or as a nutritional profile enhancer. Moreover, it can be an advantageous ingredient in food products, since it comprises specific lipid and hydrophilic bioactive compounds usually not present in other plant extracts.
Highlights
From this work stands out the hydroxytyrosol content that has well-known and remarkable health effects
The olive pomace functional ingredient can be advantageous as a nutritional profile enhancer
The antibacterial activity determined that the samples can be a natural food preservative against tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Industrial players and research institutions have been firmly committed to the circular economy principles by exploring efficient and eco-friendly procedures to upcycle agro-industrial byproducts [1]. All phases of the food life cycle (agricultural production, processing and distribution) generate byproducts that are natural resources available in high amounts at low costs and, noticeably, can be sources of high-value nutritional components [2]. In 2020, the EU produced more than 1900 thousand tons of olive oil. Spain was the top producer, followed by Italy, Greece and Portugal [3]. Olive oil production is increasing due to its organoleptic properties and significant benefits in health. The olive oil yield is 15–20%, meaning that the remaining material is olive pomace (80–85%) [4]
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