Sustainable Management of Olive Mill Wastewater: Treatment or Valorisation?

Olive oil is obtained from olive fruit by mechanical procedures, whereas its production involves one of the following extraction processes: i) discontinuous (press) extraction, ii) 3-phase centrifugal extraction or iii) 2-phase centrifugal extraction. Each of these processes generates in different forms and compositions.

The traditional olive pressing and the three phases continuous systems produce three streams: olive oil, olive cake (or kernel) and olive mill wastewater (OMWW). The annual world OMWW production is estimated between 10 and 30 million m3. The discontinuous process (not used often anymore) produces less but more concentrated wastewater (0.5–1m3 per 1000 kg) than the centrifugation process (1–1.5m3 per 1000 kg). The 2-phase centrifugal system was introduced during the 1990s in which the olive paste is separated into phases of olive oil and wet pomace (sludge by-product) that enables reduction of the volume of OMWW. Wet olive pomace is usually further extracted with n-hexane yielding olive cake oil, although it has no significant value because of the required energy for the drying process.

OMWW is a dark-colored, acidic (3< pH value <5.9) suspension of three phases: water, oil and solids (smashed particles of olive paste and kernel). It has a characteristic unpleasant odour and high organic content, whereas is claimed to be one of the most polluting waste produced by the agro-food industries. Typically OMWW consists of: 83-94% water, 0.4-2.5% mineral salts, 0.03–1.1% lipids and 4-16% organic compounds such as carbohydrates (2-8 g/100 g), pectin, mucilage, lignin and tannins.

Read full article in my Elsevier SciTech Connect Blog here.

Handbook of Grape Processing By-products Book – Authors’ Team Acknowledgments

After its launch few months ago, the Handbook of Grape Processing By-products  is continuously raising interest among researchers, academics, students, professionals and industrial partners activated in the field. Indeed, thousands’ of colleagues have already joined our LinkedIn and Facebook communities, participate in our open forums, discuss their needs, make questions, refer their case scenarios, indicate their problems and finally look for solutions and consulting in our interactive Food Waste Recovery – Open Innovation Network.

Book Presentation

A detailed explanation of the key features and hints of the book is accessible via an online book presentation which was organized on 20th of June by ISEKI Food Association (IFA) and watched live by numerous colleagues around the world. This was also an opportunity to catch up with colleagues and meet our audience. A recording of this book presentation can be viewed in the following video

Authors’ Team Acknowledgments

All these activities are organized by the FWR Group and volunteering actions of experts in the field. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all group members and authors’ team for their fruitful collaboration and high quality work in bringing together different topics and technologies in an integral and comprehensive text.

Read full article here.