Resourcing potential of olive oil pomace

Abstract

Olive oil is a kind of high-quality edible oil obtained by quick extraction from the fresh olive fruit. It has rich biological activity and positive effect on human health which leads to the increase of the demand for olive oil. Olive pomace is a by-product of olive oil during processing which is also rich in biologically active ingredients. But it is often treated as waste, not only causes environmental pollution but also a great waste of resources. In order to explore the high value utilization of olive oil by-products, the extract components of olive oil pomace by benzene, ethanol and acetone were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that there were 109, 70, and 71 components which identified in benzene, ethanol and acetone extracts of olive oil pomade respectively. Many of these components can be resourced in industries of biomedicine, bioenergy, spices, and food additives.