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Project Topic
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The recovery of bioactive substances, nutrients and lignin from olive mill wastes to produce biostimulants, biofertilizers, lignin nanoparticles and biopolymers, are identified as new technological and innovative solutions for supporting the development of agroecological farming, and eco-friendly answers for enhancing the agroecosystem resilience. In addition, the production of biogas from residual biomass would allow for bioenergy recovery. Following such a holistic approach, this proposal will end at fostering the transition towards a circular bioeconomy, based explicitly on the complete valorisation of olive by-products. The specific objectives of the proposal for achieving such ambitions are: O1) Identification and extraction of high value compounds from olive wastes (olive mill wastewater, olive mill solid waste and pomaces) as a function of olive variety, olive ripeness and oil extraction system, to be used as biostimulants and further reprocessed as biofertilizers. O2) Identification and extraction of lignocellulosic fractions with humic-like effects from olive mill solid wastes and pomaces, capable of significantly stimulating plant development and resistance to stress. Water soluble lignin fraction will also be used for the preparation of biobased lignin nanoparticles, to be used as a carrier for bioactive compounds, obtained in O1), to improve plant absorption. The solid fraction will be purified and used to produce biopolymeric composites, successively modified to allocate bioactive compounds and nutrients, with the scope of obtaining controlled slow-releasing materials to be employed as biofertilizers and eventually as biostimulants. O3) Valorisation of the residual biomass from O1 and O2 for biogas production. The potential recovery of bioenergy will be assessed by evaluating the production of biogas through anaerobic digestion and co digestion of the residual biomass. Furthemore, the properties of the digestate as biofertilizer will also be evaluated. O4) Evaluation of potential socioeconomic and environmental impacts of the innovative farming procedures to compare the acceptability, feasibility and accessibility of the developed bioproducts with current strategies and methods. The sustainability of all procedures and products will be assessed by using an LCA approach to study the environmental performance and address technical work towards more environmentally-efficient solutions. Measurable indicators (nutrients recovery, increased resistance of plants to stress and soil fertility parameters) and field-scale responses to the adoption of these innovative practices will allow for monitoring their effects in terms of environmental, economic and social sustainability. Hence, a multidisciplinary approach promoting the interaction of partners with different expertise will be followed.
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