State of knowledge on chemical, biological and nutritional properties of olive mill wastewater

• Published in: Food chemistry 2022-07, Vol.381, p.132238-132238, Article 132238
• Main Authors: Zahi, Mohamed Reda, Zam, Wissam, El Hattab, Mohamed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological activities; Ecosystem; Industrial Waste - analysis; Nutraceutical properties; Olea; Olive mill wastewater; Olive Oil - chemistry; Phenolic compounds; Treatment methods; Waste Water - chemistry
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.132238

•OMWW is the most environmentally food processing by-product.•OMWW contains a high amount of biophenolic compounds.•Chemical, physical and biological treatment could be used for the treatment of the OMWW.•OMWW is endowed with many biological activities.•OMWW is a valuable source of functional ingredients in food product formulations. The Mediterranean olive oil industries are producing annually a massive quantity of olive mill wastewater (OMWW). Unfortunately, the OMWW is released arbitrarily in the nature without any pretreatment. Thus, it exhibits a high toxicity against the whole natural ecosystem including, microorganisms, plants and animals. In order to eliminate or reduce its pollution, OMWW must be properly treated prior to its release in the nature. In this regard, different treatment methods have been developed by researchers, but some of them were costly and others were inappropriate. Thus, more efforts should be made to save the nature from this pollutant. In the light of that, the current work summaries the state of knowledge regarding the OMWW from a chemical, biological, nutraceutical point of view, and the treatment methods that were used to eliminate its risk of pollution.