Converting industrial organic waste from the cold-pressed avocado oil production line into a potential food preservative

Abstract

The production of commercial cold pressed avocado oil (CPAO) generates large quantity of organic wastes such as pomace, seeds, peels and wastewater. During the early harvest season, for every 1000 kg of avocado fruits processed, roughly 80 kg of oil is produced and wastewater accounted for the highest proportion (500 kg). Therefore, it is important to find an alternative application for this wastewater rather than its direct disposal into landfills. Proximate analysis, total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant assays were conducted on the avocado wastes. Avocado wastewater (AWW) was spray dried into powder at different temperatures from 110 °C to 160 °C, which concomitantly increased the TPC and antioxidant capacities of the AWW powder. The powder was further applied as a preservative in pork sausages and was found to be effective in preventing lipid oxidation.