Upcycling olive oil waste can create a cost-competitive high-fibre flour that enhances the nutritional profile of a range of products from brownies to breads.
Projects around the world are working on solutions to the problem of olive oil waste generation. One of these is PhenOlives, a venture that has come out of Israel’s Innovalley innovation hub and claims to be the first company in the world to have come up with a way of stopping olive waste oxidisation.
PhenOlives’ motivation to address the challenge of olive oil waste arose from the immense scale and impact of the problem, the startup’s CEO, Chen Lev-Ari, told this publication.
“With only 15% of each olive being converted into oil, the remaining 85% of the fruit becomes waste. This waste quickly oxidises, resulting in olive oil waste, which is typically stored in open pools that pose serious environmental and logistical challenges,” he said.
Lev-Ari cited figures that underscore the urgency of this issue, saying: “Annually, global olive mill wastewater production is estimated between 10 and 30 million cubic metres, and total olive oil waste biomass could reach at least 40 million [metric] tons. This entire waste volume is generated in a three-to-four-month production season, creating an overwhelming environmental burden on mills, local ecosystems, and surrounding communities.”
Working with the Assi Olive Oil Mill, a sister company within Innovalley, PhenOlives sought a solution that would bring this waste back into the production cycle, adding value to an otherwise worthless and polluting waste stream.
The company spent three years researching and developing a patented process to stop the oxidisation of olive oil waste - which is made up of three distinct components: seeds, pulp and black water.
This proprietary process segregates each constituent through a series of machines installed directly within olive oil mills. Without the use of chemicals, the mechanised system prevents oxidisation and upcycles olive pomace for different second life uses: the seeds can be repurposed for heat and energy production; the pulp is transformed into olive flour; and nutrients can be extracted from the black water.
“It will help reduce the amount of olive oil waste disposed of every year by olive mills and simultaneously improve the economic model of olive farmers and olive oil mills by enabling them to use 100% of the olive instead of the 15% they are using today,” said Lev-Ari.
He said that PhenOlives’ technology differs from other olive oil waste upcycling projects such as Swiss startup Gaia Tech in that it turns the pomace into a flour and other products.
Currently, PhenOlives’ primary product is a gluten-free, high fibre (82%) olive flour that is rich in polyphenols, enabling the development of food products with an enhanced health profile.
“Polyphenols are natural compounds found in various plant-based foods, including olives, and they offer numerous health benefits. One of their key attributes is their powerful antioxidant properties, which help neutralise harmful free radicals in the body and reduce oxidative stress. By incorporating these benefits into bakery ingredients, we are able to bring these benefits of the Mediterranean diet into a variety of daily meals,” said Lev-Ari.
According to PhenOlives, its olive flour contains on average 10 times as many polyphenols as olive oil. Its polyphenol content allows manufacturers to take advantage of the EU authorised claim linking the consumption of polyphenols from olive to the protection of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles from oxidative damage. In addition, PhenOlives has validated that a product with a 7.5% olive flour content can make a high fibre claim in accordance with EU law.
One of the downsides of formulating with polyphenol-rich ingredients is their bitter taste. Acknowledging this as a challenge, PhenOlives says one of the advantages of its patented process is the ability to control the level of polyphenols in the olive flour. It targets 2000-4000 ppm, a range in which it says the bitterness is avoided and the flour has a neutral taste profile, making it suitable for a variety of applications.
PhenOlives says the flour can be combined with other traditional flours to create a variety of baked goods, including pasta, bread, crackers, cookies, brownies, muffins, and pizza bases.
The startup is currently exploring opportunities for collaboration with food and ingredient companies, as well as olive mills, for the production and sale of olive flour in Europe this year, and will soon open another investment round.
“Our goal is to promote the widespread adoption of olive flavour as a favoured ingredient to boost fibre and antioxidants in products, whilst simultaneously lowering calorie content,” said Lev-Ari.
“Furthermore, we are exploring the use of olive pulp to create a range of additional products, including food additives, colorants, and even pet food, alongside our olive flour-based products. Additionally, we are investigating ways to leverage the rich nutritional content of the olive black water, which is abundant in polyphenols, squalene, and fibre.”
