Improvement of Olive Oil Mechanical Extraction: New Technologies, Process Efficiency, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Quality

Abstract

Most of the recent technological innovations applied to the mechanical oil extraction process are aimed at improving virgin olive oil quality and yield. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) quality is mainly based on the qualitative/quantitative composition of monounsaturated faty acids, volatile and phenolic compounds that are strictly related to the health and sensory properties of the product, with particular atention given to the fraction of secoiridoid derivatives and C and C volatile compounds. The diferent levels of concentration of these compounds are due to some important variables: agronomic and technological. The chapter explains the recent approaches and innovations introduced in the oil extraction process to improve the working eiciency of the production system and to obtain high-quality extra virgin olive oils.

Investigation of the Effects of Virgin Olive Oil Cleaning Systems on the Secoiridoid Aglycone Content Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

“…Therefore, quantification of the derived secoiridoid aglycones in edible oils is significant for evaluating the effect of oil production on the quality of this food (Mateos, Cert, Perez‐Camino, & Garcia, ). Notably, the alteration of the secoiridoid content during oil production steps such as crushing, malaxation, and centrifugation was reported (Di Giovacchino et al, ; Veneziani et al, ).…”

“…Over the last few decades, the quality control of virgin olive oil (VOO) has become an important issue during olive oil production and processing (Di Giovacchino, Sestili, & Di Vincenzo, ; Veneziani et al, ), which could strongly affect the antioxidant activity of VOO phenolic components. The main hydrophilic phenols with high biological activity occurring in olive fruits are secoiridoid aglycones, generated during the olive oil extraction process by the enzymatic hydrolysis of the oleuropein and ligstroside glucosides, accompanied by further enzymatic processes, leading to the corresponding decarboxymethylated forms (Kelebek, Selli, & Kola, ; Servili et al, ).…”

A Life Cycle Perspective to Assess the Environmental and Economic Impacts of Innovative Technologies in Extra Virgin Olive Oil Extraction

“…EVOO quality is strictly dependent on several factors, such as cultivar, agronomic practices, and olive oil extraction technology [7]. Processing of olives to obtain EVOO is carried out solely by mechanical operations, which have been strongly improved during the last thirty years [8,9,10,11,12]. Malaxation, which involves mixing of the crushed olive paste to promote oil drop coalescence, has prominent importance over the whole extraction process.…”

Emerging Extraction Technologies in Olive Oil Production

“…The conventional extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) extraction method consists of three main processes, which are crushing, malaxation, and centrifugation [1]. After washing olive fruits, they are crushed using a stone-mill, hammers, disc crushers, de-stoning machines, or blades [2]. The purpose of this step is to facilitate the release of the oil droplets from the Elaioplasts.…”

“…Ultrasound is one of the main emerging technologies widely used in various extraction processes of plant materials [11,12]. In order to enhance oil extraction, ultrasound can be applied to the olive paste due to its mechanic effect on the cell membranes, which induces them to release oil easily from vacuoles with a considerably lower malaxation time and higher oil quality and yield [2,5,10,[13][14][15][16][17][18]. In addition to the extraction process, ultrasound was also investigated in numerous studies on food processing methods including emulsification, filtration, crystallization, inactivation of enzymes and microorganisms, thawing, and freezing on foods [19,20].…”