Sustainability, Innovation, and Green Chemistry in the Production and Valorization of Phenolic Extracts from Olea europaea L.

Annalisa Romani,Francesca Ieri,Roberta Bernini,Patrizia Pinelli

doi:10.3390/su8101002

Abstract

This paper describes a circular economy process based on environmentally and economically sustainable procedures which was applied to the sector of olive oil processing on an industrial scale. Olea europaea L. tissues and by-products represent a renewable and low-cost source of polyphenols, in particular hydroxytyrosol (HTyr), a naturally occurring compound well known for its biological properties. Specifically, green leaves (GL), dried leaves (DL), and pitted olive pulp were treated with water in a pneumatic extractor to obtain the corresponding polyphenolic extracts. Three standardized fractions, named Soft Extract Olea GL, Soft Extract Olea DL, and Soft Extract Olea HTyr resulted after the following two steps: a separation process carried out by membrane technology, and a concentration step performed under reduced pressure and low temperature. The polyphenolic fractions showed antiradical activity and have potential industrial applications in the food, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, feed, and agronomic fields. Novel functionalized extracts containing hydroxytyrosol methyl carbonate (HTyr-MC) were obtained from Soft Extract Olea HTyr through an innovative approach based on green chemistry procedures, which appear to be a promising tool to increase the applications of the polyphenolic extracts.

Highlights

Sustainability and innovation are some of the keywords of a novel economic concept, named the circular economy, based on legislative proposals suggested and adopted by the European Community to increase global competitiveness, foster economic growth, and create new jobs by saving resources and energy [1]
A circular economy process can be achieved through efficient small and industrial scale bioenergy plants, biorefineries, and environmentally friendly processes to obtain bioactive compounds that can be used as active ingredients for agronomic, cosmetic, food, feed, and pharmaceutical formulations [3,4]
As reported in the last column, the total polyphenol content and the percentage of oleuropein varied according to the starting material status, namely green leaves (GL) or dried leaves (DL)

Summary

Introduction

Sustainability and innovation are some of the keywords of a novel economic concept, named the circular economy, based on legislative proposals suggested and adopted by the European Community to increase global competitiveness, foster economic growth, and create new jobs by saving resources and energy [1]. The aim of the circular economy is to “close the loop” of product lifecycles through greater recycling and re-use, and create benefits for both the environment and the economy [2] This approach can be applied in almost all manufacturing fields. The agro-industrial field offers a good opportunity when considering the large amounts of waste and by-products produced every year during fruit and vegetable processing In this area, a circular economy process can be achieved through efficient small and industrial scale bioenergy plants, biorefineries, and environmentally friendly processes to obtain bioactive compounds that can be used as active ingredients for agronomic, cosmetic, food, feed, and pharmaceutical formulations [3,4].

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