Potential of bioethanol production from olive mill solid wastes

The main objective of this study was to screen endogenous microorganisms grown on olive mill solid wastes (OMSW) with the potential to ferment pentoses and produce ethanol. Two yeasts were isolated and identified as Issatchenkia orientalis, and Pichia galeiformis/manshurica. The adaptation of the strains displayed a positive impact on the fermentation process. In terms of xylose utilization and ethanol production, all strains were able to utilize xylose and produce xylitol but no ethanol was detected. Separate hydrolysis and fermentation process on hydrolysate undergo detoxification, strain I. orientalis showed the best efficiency in producing of ethanol when supplemented with glucose. Using simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process following pretreatment of OMSW, the average ethanol yield was 3 g/100 g dry OMSW. Bioethanol production from OMSW is not economic despite the raw material is cheap.

Antioxidant activity of phenolic fractions in olive mill wastewater

Olive mill wastewater (OMW) contains a substantial amount of valuable antioxidant phenols that can be recovered for industrial application as food additives and pharmaceuticals. The present study was aimed at extracting different phenolic OMW fractions, and determining their antioxidant potential. Five different OMW fractions were obtained using fractionation techniques, their antioxidant potential determined by DPPH, ORAC and a β-carotene bleaching test. The total phenol level ranged between 115 and 170 mg/l. The phenolic compounds present in individual fractions were identified using the HPLC-PAD method, where the main compounds were hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, verbascoside, oleuropein, ferulic acid, and p-coumaric acid. The five OMW fractions showed different antioxidant levels depending on the test used. DPPH test showed that the fraction of alkyl aromatic alcohols (AAAs) was the best with EC(50) of 20 mg/l and the pure hydroxytyrosol with 2 mg/l. ORAC test showed that AAA and semi hydrolysed total phenol (s-TP) fractions were significantly better than Trolox when compared to 20 mg/l of Trolox.