Scientists find that byproducts from olive oil production benefit food and chemical industries.
Scientists say they have found a new use for alpeorujo, the main waste byproduct generated from olive oil extraction and one that poses a serious pollution problem for Spain and other major olive oil-producing regions. According to an article from UPI, researchers are turning waste byproducts from olive oil production into biosurfactants and monoglycerides, molecules that offer benefits to the chemical and food industries. These surface active agents, or surficants, reportedly can serve as a barrier between oil and water and encourage emulsification.
Alpeorujo is reportedly being used currently to make biofuels, but the process has not proven to be efficient or lucrative. Researchers discovered that by fermenting alpeorujo with biosurfactant microorganisms they can produce the ecofriendly surficants and do it more cheaply than with available methods, according to the article.
