Background: The olive oil industry generates significant amounts of semi-solid wastes, namely olive pomace. Olive pomace is a by-product rich in high-value compounds (e.g. dietary fibre, unsaturated fatty acids, polyphenols) widely explored to obtain new food ingredients. However, conventional extraction methods frequently use organic solvents, while novel eco-friendly techniques have high operational costs. The development of powdered products without any extraction step has been proposed as a more feasible and sustainable approach.
Results: The present study fractionated and valorized the liquid and pulp fraction of olive pomace obtaining two stable and safe powdered ingredients, namely a liquid-enriched powder (LOPP) and a pulp-enriched powder (POPP). These powders were characterized chemically, and their bioactivity was assessed. LOPP exhibited a significant amount of mannitol (141 g kg-1 ), potassium (54 g kg-1 ) and hydroxytyrosol derivatives (5 mg g-1 ). POPP exhibited a high amount of dietary fibre (620 g kg-1 ) associated with a significant amount of bound phenolics (7.41 mg GAE g-1 fibre DW) with substantial antioxidant activity. POPP also contained an unsaturated fatty acid composition similar to that of olive oil (76% of total fatty acids) and showed potential as a reasonable source of protein (12%). Their functional properties (solubility, water-holding and oil-holding capacity), antioxidant capacity and antimicrobial activity were also assessed, and their biological safety was verified.
Conclusions: The development of olive pomace powders for application in the food industry could be a suitable strategy to add value to olive pomace and obtain safe multifunctional ingredients with higher health-promoting effects than dietary fibre and polyphenols. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.
Keywords: antioxidant dietary fibre; functional ingredient; hydroxytyrosol; olive pomace; powder.
© 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.