Use of Olive Industry By-Products for Value-Added Food Development

The olive industry involves environmental problems of special relevance, such as the generation of residual brines after the pickling process. Moreover, in the pitting and filling operations of the olives, fatty residues are generated that end up being washed away in the wastewater of these industries. The novelty of this work is based on the extraction of high value-added compounds from residues resulting from the industrialization process of olives, whose content in fatty acids, phenolic compounds and other substances could make them susceptible to being considered as a raw material of interest for the development or enrichment of other foods. The results obtained determined that the physico-chemical and functional characteristics of the oil and the brine, generated as by-products in the olive industry, indicated their potential as raw materials. For this reason, new formulations of the filling of olives (anchovy, red pepper, and lemon flavour) were developed, using the residual oil as a by-product, which showed greater global acceptability by consumers compared to a commercial stuffing made with sodium alginate. In addition, wastewater was used as a brine by-product to pickle three types of vegetables: carrot, cauliflower, and onion. All pickled vegetables showed the highest phenolic content and a higher overall liking, the differences being significant with respect to commercial reference. In conclusion, the results obtained could allow for the conversion of a by-product into a co-product, partially solving an environmental problem, and providing added value to the final product.