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Project Topic
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The Mediterranean Diet plays an important role in Mediterranean societies and its benefits have been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Olive Council (IOC) and the European Union (EU), among other institutions. Agricultural intensification strategies to meet the consumers’ increasing demand, particularly changes in the Mediterranean olive oil production in all stages of the production chain, are creating a paradoxical situation in the sense that the promotion of a healthier, sustainable diet is yielding serious environmental issues and economic losses. Indeed, olive oil production, considered among the most important agro-industrial activities in the Mediterranean, has a high impact on the economy of many Mediterranean countries. Olive oil extraction generates huge quantities of byproducts, including pomace, leaves, residues, wastewater and stones, which have severe environmental impacts. In this regard, the waste derived from olive oil processing, particularly stone by-products, is challenging to manage as it is becoming a significant waste source creating an environmental problem in the region. However, the huge availability together with the low cost of such by-products may be turned into an opportunity if handled with a sustainability and circular economy approach for its valorization to obtain high value-added compounds such as biopolymers, including carbohydrates and proteins, and antioxidants. Consequently, the development of green extraction strategies and characterization techniques to manage olive stone powder by-product is a key challenge for the Mediterranean agricultural economy in general and for the olive sector in particular. In addition, deeper knowledge about the biological activities of the compounds present in the recovered products and their mechanism of action is crucial to allow their reuse for food, medical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic purposes following the sustainability and circular economy policies. This proposal aims to develop and optimize novel methodologies that allow maximizing the production of compounds of interest from olive stones biomass. Concretely, we aim to undertake the efficient extraction, purification, physico-chemical characterization and biological evaluation of produced extracts and value-added products. One of the main advantages of recovering valuable compounds from olive stones is their incorporation into functional foods as health-promoting components and as preserving agents due to their antioxidant properties. Besides, the stone biomass contains a substantial amount of valuable carbohydrates and proteins which can be incorporated for the development of bio-based materials, including gels, emulsions, films, fibers and nanoparticles. The VALOstones project is expected to improve the economic, environmental and social sustainability and the circularity of the olive sector in the Mediterranean region.
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