Abstract
The extraction of phenolic compounds from olive mill wastes is important, not only to avoid environmental damages, but also because of the intrinsic value of those biophenols, well-known for their high antioxidant potential and health benefits. This study focuses on tyrosol (Tyr) and hydroxytyrosol (HT), two of the main phenolic compounds found in olive mill wastes. A new, simple, and eco-friendly extraction process for the removal of phenolic compounds from aqueous solutions using native β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) in the solid state has been developed. Several β-CD/biophenol molar ratios and biophenol concentrations were investigated, in order to maintain β-CD mostly in the solid state while optimizing the extraction yield and the loading capacity of the sorbent. The extraction efficiencies of Tyr and HT were up to 61%, with a total solid recovery higher than 90% using an initial concentration of 100 mM biophenol and 10 molar equivalents of β-CD. The photochemical stability of the complexes thus obtained was estimated from ∆E*ab curve vs. illumination time. The results obtained showed that the phenols encapsulated into solid β-CD are protected against photodegradation. The powder obtained could be directly developed as a safe-grade food supplement. This simple eco-friendly process could be used for extracting valuable biophenols from olive mill wastewater.
Highlights
In the Mediterranean basin, two of the main agricultural wastes are olive mill wastewaters (OMWW) and olive pomace, both of which are associated with olive oil production [1]
Ena et al [10] compared the ability of granular activated carbon (GAC) and Azolla to remove phenolic compounds from OMWW
Extraction efficiencies obtained for Tyr and HT were up to 61%, with a total solid recovery higher than 90%
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Previous studies have focused on decreasing the pollutant character of olive mill effluents by removing phenolic compounds. Ena et al [10] compared the ability of GAC and Azolla to remove phenolic compounds from OMWW. OMWW, HT was more abundant in the GAC-treated OMWW Apart from their polluting character, olive mill wastes have emerged as a valuable and economic source of natural phenolic compounds known for their diverse biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties. Spray- and freeze-drying processes are commonly used, and first require mixing β-CD and phenol in an aqueous solution to form the complexes. A new, simple, and eco-friendly process was developed for the one-step extraction of olive phenolic compounds from an aqueous solution by directly forming a solid-state complex with β-CD. The conditions were optimized in terms of phenol and β-CD concentration and molar ratio
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