The production of table olives is based on a relatively simple flow chart, including debittering and lactic fermentation. Producers' demand for innovation was the background to design and test some innovative and alternative approaches, i.e. the selection of suitable starter cultures (both lactic acid bacteria and yeasts), the production of functional olives inoculated with probiotic strains, the use of bioremediation (i.e. degradation of oleuropein by bacteria or yeasts), as well as the inoculation of functional starter cultures with a strong biopreservative effect. This article reports a brief description of the most important innovations, with a special focus on the role of traditional and innovative starter cultures.
Keywords: Biopreservation; bioremediation; biotechnologies; lactic acid bacteria; starter cultures; yeasts.