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. 2024 Aug 20;13(16):2613.
doi: 10.3390/foods13162613.

Industrial Production of Bioactive Nutrient-Enhanced Extra Virgin Olive Oil under Continuous-Flow Ultrasound and Pulsed Electric Field Treatment

Luisa Boffa  1 , Emanuela Calcio Gaudino  1 , Giorgio Grillo  1 , Arianna Binello  1 , Giorgio Capaldi  1 , Duarte Rego  2 , Marcos Pereira  2 , Giancarlo Cravotto  1
Affiliations

Industrial Production of Bioactive Nutrient-Enhanced Extra Virgin Olive Oil under Continuous-Flow Ultrasound and Pulsed Electric Field Treatment

Luisa Boffa et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet. Many studies have highlighted its crucial preventive role against cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, metabolic syndrome and cancer, with these effects being due to the synergistic anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of minor components, such as polyphenols and tocols. The aim of the present study is to implement new technologies for olive oil mills and develop an efficient large-sized industrial process for the continuous extraction of healthier EVOOs that are enriched with these bioactive compounds. Non-thermal technologies, namely ultrasound (US) and pulsed electric field (PEF), have been tested, separately and in combination, to eliminate the need for traditional malaxation. There is extensive literature to support the efficacy of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and PEF treatments in EVOO production. A newly designed US device and a PEF industrial chamber have been combined into a single, integrated continuous-flow setup, the performance of which in the extraction of EVOO from green Coratina olives has been evaluated herein. Extraction yields, physico-chemical and organoleptic characteristics, and polyphenol and tocol contents were monitored throughout the trials, and the last three were measured at accelerated aging times (AAT) of 15 and 30 days. The US and combined US-PEF processes not only increased daily oil production (ton/day, by nearly 45%), but also eliminated the need for kneading during malaxation, resulting in significant energy savings (approximately 35%). In addition, these innovations enriched the resulting EVOO with nutritionally relevant minor components (8-12% polyphenols, 3-5% tocols), thereby elevating its quality and market value, as well as overall stability. The introduction of continuous-flow US and PEF technologies is a remarkable innovation for the EVOO industry, as they offer benefits to both producers and consumers. The EVOO resulting from non-thermal continuous-flow production meets the growing demand for healthier, nutrient-enriched products.

Keywords: accelerated shelf-life; extra virgin olive oil (EVOO); flow process; green Coratina; industrial scale; polyphenols; pulsed electric field; tocopherols; ultrasound.

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Conflict of interest statement

Author D. Rego and M. Pereira were employed by the company Energy Pulse Systems, Est Paco Lumiar Polo Tecnológico Lt3, 1600-546 Lisbon, Portugal. Their expertise in the field of PEF was complementary to the consolidated experience of the other authors in the domain of ultrasound. The Corresponding author on behalf of all the co-authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of operations: 1, CTRL (malaxation step, US and PEF off); 2, US (no malaxation, PEF device off); 3, US + PEF_P trial (no malaxation, US on, PEF in positive mode); 4, US + PEF_B (no malaxation, US on, PEF in bipolar mode); 5, M_PEF+P (malaxation step, US off and PEF in positive mode).
Figure 2
Figure 2
FFA and PV, according to different EVOO production setups (expressed, respectively, as % oleic acid ±U and meq O2/kg ± U, where U is the expanded measurement uncertainty with a coverage factor k = 2 and a confidence level of 95%).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Organoleptic evaluation of the different oils obtained using the conventional process (CTRL) and the application of US and PEF technologies alone or combined (US, US + PEF_P, US + PEF_B, M + PEF_P).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Significant differences in polyphenol content between EVOOs obtained using different techniques (CTRL, US, US + PEF_P, US + PEF_B, M + PEF_P) immediately after production (T0) and samples kept in the climatic chamber (ASLT, light, 40 °C) for T15 and T30 (two-way ANOVA with Graph-Pad Prism 10.2.3) Statistical significance is indicated by p-values as follows: p < 0.05 (*), p < 0.001 (***), and p < 0.0001 (****).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Significant differences in tocol content between EVOO obtained using different techniques (CTRL, US, US + PEF_P, US + PEF_B, M + PEF_P) immediately after production (T0) and samples kept in the climatic chamber (ASLT, light, at 40 °C) for T15 and T30 (two-way ANOVA with Graph-Pad Prism). Highly significant differences (****) between T0 and T15 and T0 and T30 were removed from graphic for reasons of clarity. Statistical significance is indicated by p-values as follows: p < 0.05 (*), p < 0.01 (**), p < 0.001 (***)and p < 0.0001 (****).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Organoleptic evaluation, stability trends at T0, T15 and T30.
Figure 7
Figure 7
(A): Set-up cost comparison; (B): energy intake according to the key equipment. Production stream has been normalized to 36 ton/day.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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