Synthesis of dimeric phenylethanoids isolated from olive oil mill wastewaters

Two dimeric phenylethanoids isolated from olive oil mill wastewaters have been synthesized from cathecol, tyrosol and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid.     

Dynamic ultrasound-assisted extraction of oleuropein and related biophenols from olive leaves

A continuous approach for the ultrasound-assisted extraction of olive biophenols (OBPs) from olive leaves is proposed. Multivariate methodology was used to carry out a detailed optimisation of extraction. Under the optimal working conditions, complete extraction of the target analytes (namely, oleuropein, verbacoside, apigenin-7-glucoside and luteolin-7-glucoside with LODs 11.04, 2.68, 1.49 and 3.91 mg/kg, respectively) was achieved in 25 min. The extract was injected into a chromatograph-photodiode array detector assembly (HPLC-DAD) for individual separation-quantification. No clean-up or preconcentration steps were required. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (without derivatization of the analytes) was used to identify OBPs at concentrations below the LODs obtained by HPLC-DAD. The efficacy of ethanol-water mixtures to extract OBPs from olive leaves has been demonstrated and compared with that of a conventional method which requires 24h for complete extraction; so these mixtures can substitute toxic extractants used to date.     

Enzyme catalyzed production of biodiesel from olive oil

Biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters) was produced by transesterification of triglycerides (triolein) present in olive oil with methanol and Novozym435. The effect of the molar ratio of methanol to triolein, semibatch (stepwise addition of methanol) vs batch operation, enzyme activity, and reaction temperature on overall conversion was determined. Stepwise methanolysis with a 3:1 methanol to triolein molar ratio and an overall ratio of 8:1 gave the best results. The final conversion and yield of biodiesel were unaffected by initial enzyme concentrations greater than 500 U/mL olive oil. The optimum reaction temperature was 60 degrees C. Comparison of conversion data between a test-tube scale reactor and a 2-L batch reactor revealed that the difference in conversion was within 10%. Experiments were also carried out with used cooking oil; the conversion with used cooking oil was slightly lower but no major differences were observed. The efficacy of Novozym435 was determined by reusing the enzyme; although the enzyme's relative activity decreased with reuse, it still retained 95% of its activity after five batches and more than 70% after as many as eight batches.     

Superheated liquid extraction of oleuropein and related biophenols from olive leaves

Oleuropein and other healthy olive biophenols (OBPs) such as verbacoside, apigenin-7-glucoside and luteolin-7-glucoside have been extracted from olive leaves by using superheated liquids and a static-dynamic approach. Multivariate methodology has been used to carry out a detailed optimisation of the extraction. Under the optimal working conditions, complete removal without degradation of the target analytes was achieved in 13 min. The extract was injected into a chromatograph-photodiode array detector assembly for individual separation-quantification. The proposed approach - which provides more concentrated extracts than previous alternatives - is very useful to study matrix-extractant analytes partition. In addition, the efficacy of superheated liquids to extract OBPs, the simplicity of the experimental setup, its easy automation and low acquisition and maintenance costs make the industrial implementation of the proposed method advisable.     

Ethanol production from lignocellulosic byproducts of olive oil extraction

The recent implementation of a new two-step centrifugation process for extracting olive oil in Spain has substantially reduced water consumption, thereby eliminating oil mill wastewater. However, a new high sugar content residue is still generated. In this work the two fractions present in the residue (olive pulp and fragm ented stones) were assayed as substrate for ethanol production by the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process. Pretreatment of fragmented olive stones by sulfuric acid-catalyzed steam explosion was the most effective treatment for increasing enzymatic digestibility; however, a pretreatment step was not necessary to bioconvert the olive pulp into ethanol. Theolive pulp and fragmented olive stones were tested by the SSF process using a fed-batch procedure. By adding the pulp three times at 24-h intervals, 76% of the theoretical SSF yield was obtained. Experiments with fed-batch pretreated olive stones provided SSF yields significantly lower than those obtained at standard SSF procedure. The preferred SSF conditions to obtain ethanol from olives stones (61% of theoretical yield) were 10% substrate and addition of cellulases at 15 filter paper units/g of substrate.     

Analysis and anaerobic degradation of wool scouring and olive oil mill wastewaters

Summary Two types of fatty industrial wastewaters, wool scouring effluents (WSE) and olive oil mill effluents (OME) were analysed (lipids, phenols and COD), and were then treated anaerobically in laboratory-scale fixed bed filters. Approximately 50% of the organic compounds in both wastewaters was degraded at two days of hydraulic residence time. A higher biogas production was obtained when using OME rather than WSE. This experimental study confirmed that anaerobic digestion can be considered as a roughing treatment in a multi-step process for industrial fatty wastewaters.     

Multivariate optimisation of the microwave-assisted extraction of oleuropein and related biophenols from olive leaves

Microwave assistance is proposed for the first time in order to accelerate the extraction of biophenols from olive leaves. Under optimal working conditions, obtained using a multivariate methodology, complete extraction of the target analytes was achieved in 8 min. The extracts required no clean-up nor concentration prior to injection into a chromatograph–photodiode array detector assembly for individual separation–quantification. The optimal extractant (an 80:20 ethanol–water mixture) was also used in the development of a stirring-based extraction method which required around 24 h for complete extraction of the target compounds. These mixtures can be used as replacements for toxic extractants, with a view to exploiting olive leaves in order to obtain biophenols for human use.     

Ethanol production from olive oil extraction residue pretreated with hot water

The olive pulp fraction contained in the residue generated in olive oil extraction by a two-step centrifugation process can be upgraded by using the cellulose fraction to produce ethanol and recovering high value phenols (tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol). Olive pulp was pretreated in a laboratory scale stirred autoclave at different temperatures (150–250°C). Pretreatment was evaluated regarding cellulose recovery, enzymatic hydrolysis effectiveness ethanol production by a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process (SSF), and phenols recovery in the filtrate. The pretreatment of olive pulp using water at temperatures between 200°C and 250°C enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis. Maximum ethanol production (11.9 g/L) was obtained after pretreating pulp at 210°C in a SSF fed-batch procedure. Maximum hydroxytyrosol recovery was obtained in the liquid fraction when pretreated at 230°C.     

Treatment of silk production wastewaters by membrane processes for sericin recovery

Sericin protein, although a valuable resource for many industries including cosmetics, pharmaceutical and biomedical, has been discarded as a waste in silk industry, causing environmental pollution. This paper describes determination of a membrane-based process for sericin recovery from cocoon cooking wastewaters (CCW) that will enable value-added utilization of waste sericin. The iso-electric point (pI) of sericin was found as 5–6, whose MW was distributed as 180–200, 70–80, 30–40 and 10–25 kDa. Prior to membrane filtration, sericin was separated from other impurities via centrifugation (CFG) followed by microfiltration (MF) in the pre-treatment stage, which also helped minimize post membrane fouling. Ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) were adopted at a pH equal to pI of sericin. UF achieved partial recovery of sericin polypeptides at 37–60%, which was attributed to increased transmission of uncharged sericin polypeptides at their pI. On the other hand, NF achieved sericin recovery as high as 94–95%, containing all MW fractions. Severe flux decline was the major problem due to protein–membrane interactions and high sericin concentrations, where concentration polarization mainly had a dominant effect. Although flux declines were as high as 58–88% in UF and 70–75% in NF, flux recovery by at least 83% was achieved by chemical cleaning using NaOH and free chlorine.     

Liquid chromatographic determination of simple phenolic compounds in waste waters from olive oil production plants.

A method was developed for the determination of simple phenolic compounds (PCs) in waste waters from olive oil production plants by liquid chromatography (LC). The sample under examination was acidified to pH 2 to precipitate proteins, acetone was added to eliminate the colloidal fraction, and hexane was used for extraction to eliminate lipidic substances. The solution obtained was filtered and injected into the LC system; the wavelength selected for the spectrophotometric detection was specific for PCs, so that carbohydrates, organic acids, and short-chain free fatty acids did not interfere. Recoveries of 9 PCs spiked to a real sample were 90-100% for concentrations ranging from 20 to 2000 mg/L for each analyte.     

Toxicity and biodegradability of olive mill wastewaters in batch anaerobic digestion

The anaerobic biodegradability and toxicity of olive mill waste-waters (OMW) were studied in batch anaerobic digestion experiments. Anaerobic digestion of OMW or the supernatant of its centrifugation, the methane production was achieved at up to 5–15% (V/V) dilution corresponding to only 5–20 g/L COD. The washed suspended solids of OMW were toxic at up to 80 g/L COD; however, the kinetic of biodegradability of OMW or the supernatant was faster than for suspended solids, which are constituted meanly of cellulose and lignin. The darkly colored polyphenols induce the problem of biodegradation of OMW, whereas the long chain fatty acids (LCFA), tannins and simple phenolic compounds are responsible its toxicity for methanogenic bacteria.     

The concentration of oleocanthal in olive oil waste

The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of oleocanthal in olive pomace waste and compare this to its concentration in extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO). The concentration of oleocanthal in freshly pressed EVOO and its subsequent waste was analysed at early, mid and late season harvests. Oleocanthal concentrations were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. In oil, oleocanthal concentration was as follows: 123.24 ± 6.48 mg kg(-1) in early harvest, 114.20 ± 17.42 mg kg(-1) in mid harvest and 152.22 ± 10.54 mg kg(-1) in late harvest. Its concentration in waste was determined to be: 128.25 ± 11.33 mg kg(-1) in early harvest, 112.15 ± 1.51 mg kg(-1) in mid harvest and 62.35 ± 8.00 mg kg(-1) in late harvest. Overall, olive pomace waste is a valuable source of oleocanthal.     

Lead removal and recovery from battery industry wastewaters by soluble starch xanthate

Treatment, removal and recovery of lead (3 mg/L) from battery industry wastewaters have been investigated utilising a chemical precipitation process with soluble starch xanthate (SX) at pH 5-6. A reactant ratio, i.e., SX/Pb(II) = 6 mol/mol, a reaction time of 15 min., the addition of 15 mg/L of a cationic polyelectrolyte and a final filtration gave residual lead concentrations in the liquid phase less than 0.2 mg/L, well below the maximum limit established by the EU Directive. Lead was extracted from the obtained sludge by oxidation with sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide solutions. The amounts of oxidant needed were quantified as 13.5 mol NaClO/mol Pb and one order of magnitude larger, for H2O2, the latter due to the competitive disproportion reaction of the oxidant. The metal extraction was quantitative using sodium hypochlorite; when hydrogen peroxide was used, the formation of insoluble PbSO4 (Anglesite) gave a 80% metal extraction. In both cases molar ratios between sulphate and lead ions in the extracted solutions were in the range 2.1-2.2, in agreement with the stoichiometries of the reactions. Lead can be quantitatively recovered from the extracted (NaClO) solutions, for reuse, after a chemical precipitation process with 1M NaOH at pH 9-9.5, in the form of hydrocerussite [Pb3(CO3)2(OH)2].     

顶空气相色谱-质谱测定橄榄调和油中橄榄油含量

建立了测定橄榄调和油中橄榄油含量的顶空气相色谱-质谱分析方法。对样品量、加热温度、加热时间、进样量、进样模式、色谱柱进行了优化。通过化学计量学方法发现了橄榄油的特征化合物。取1.0 g样品放置于20 m L顶空瓶中,在180℃加热振摇2 700 s,取1.0 m L顶空气体进样,通过HP-88色谱柱分离和质谱检测。结果表明,方法的线性范围为0~100%(橄榄油含量),线性相关系数(r2)大于0.995,检出限为1.26%~2.13%,模拟橄榄调和油中橄榄油含量测定的偏差为-0.65%~1.02%,相对偏差为-1.3%~6.8%,相对标准偏差为1.18%~4.26%(n=6)。该方法不使用任何溶剂,操作简单、快速、环保,灵敏度和准确度高,适用于橄榄调和油中橄榄油含量的测定。     

The variability of composition of the volatile fraction of olive oil

Aroma of olive oil is a very complex mixture of components. Analysis of head space of a series of virgin olive oil samples indicate a great variability of volatile substances composition in olives and these data probably should be related to the story of olives after collecting.     

Electrochemical treatment of olive oil mill wastewater

The possibility of oxidizing at a PbO2 anode the phenols and polyphenols, present in the olive oil mill wastewater, has been studied as a pretreatment for the submission of such wastewater to the traditional biological treatments. The results obtained operating at current densities ranging 500 to 2000 A/m2 show that it is possible to reduce the concentration of the phenolic components, which interfere with the biological treatments, down to low values without decreasing too much the total organic content of the wastewater.     

Determination of olive oil acidity by CE

In this work, a CE method for the determination of olive oil acidity was proposed. The method was based on an ethanolic extraction (at 60 degrees C) of the oil long-chain free fatty acids (LC-FFAs) components followed by CE determination in pH 6.86 phosphate buffer at 15 mmol/L concentration containing 4 mmol/L sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS), 10 mmol/L polyoxyethylene 23 lauryl ether (Brij 35), 2% v/v 1-octanol and 45% v/v ACN under indirect UV detection at 224 nm. Although this electrolyte promoted baseline separation of myristic acid (C14:0) (internal standard (IS)) and olive oil major components (palmitic acid (C16:0), oleic acid (C18:1c) and linoleic acid (C18:2cc)) in less than 8 min, after a few injections, the electropherogram profiles were severely altered (peak broadening, migration time shifts, etc.) and the current increased substantially. An adsorption study was conducted revealing that the dissolution of the capillary external polyimide coating during the electrophoretic run caused the detrimental effect. After removal of the capillary tip coating, ten consecutive injections could be performed without any disturbances and this simple procedure was, therefore, implemented during quantitative purposes. The reliability of the proposed method was further investigated by the determination of acidity of an extra virgin olive oil sample in comparison to the established methodology (AOCS method Ca 5a-40, alkaline volumetric titration (AVT)). No statistical differences were found within 95% confidence level. A % acidity of 0.39 +/- 0.02 was found for the olive oil sample under consideration.     

Catalytic pyrolysis of exhausted olive oil waste

The interest on energy recovery from renewable sources is increasing due to the global warming and fossil fuels limitation. Biomass thermochemical conversion methods present some significant advantages such as zero net emissions and the use of agricultural by-products. In this work, a study of the catalytic and non-catalytic pyrolysis of an exhausted olive waste was carried out. The objective was to characterize the solid, liquid and gaseous phases in terms of their energy content. Two experimental series were conducted: uncatalyzed processes, studying the influence of temperature in the range 400–900 °C; and catalyzed ones, investigating the influence of temperature (500–800 °C) and quantity of catalyst (0–100 g). Also, the dolomite effectiveness as catalyst was evaluated. For this motive, consecutive experiments, without reactivating dolomite, were carried out (0–6 runs), and the yields of solids, liquids and gases were determined. It was found that increasing temperature leads in both series to a decrease in the solid and liquid yields and to an increase in the gas yield. The presence and amount of catalyst caused a significant decrease in the liquid phase yield and a high increase in the gas phase yield giving rise to a vast rise in hydrogen production. On the other hand, the catalyst proved to be stable and did not lose activity during at least six pyrolysis cycles.Finally, as a previous step to the design of industrial installations, a kinetic study of the process was performed, based on the generation of the principal gases, considering that these are formed through parallel independent first-order reactions, with different activation energy.