ANDThe liquid that is produced when the olive is transformed into olive oil could offer important health benefits; However, currently this substance is discarded and harms the environment.
Mill wastewater is produced when olives are washed, crushed, mixed with water and the oils extracted, leaving a number of byproducts, including olive mill wastewater: a dark, bitter and acidic liquid with an intense odor.
Oil mill wastewater (OMW) contains a very high level of nutritional compounds that represents a risk to the environment (they kill plants, microorganisms and upset the balance of ecosystems in rivers, lakes and soils), but could offer important benefits for human health.
“The interesting thing about wastewater from oil mills is that they transform something that was previously waste and whose treatment and disposal cost money into something useful and even profitable. The power of OMW is in the bioactives, they are the chemicals present in foods that have health benefits, but are not essential nutrients,” nutrition scientist Dr. Emma Beckett of the University of New South Wales told Newsweek. .
In Beckett’s words, olives have many of these substances and are part of the reason why olive oil is good, but many are water-soluble and remain in this waste.
OLIVES AND ITS MANY HEALTH BENEFITS
Olive oil has been linked to a variety of health benefits due to these bioactive compounds, particularly as an important part of the Mediterranean diet, associated with longevity and a reduced risk of inflammation-related diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, various types of cancer and heart disease.
“We get bioactives from all fruits, vegetables and whole grains, so it is debatable whether or not we need plant-based foods. But humans in general do not eat enough plant foods for health, so I am open to options that motivate people to access bioactives,” Beckett noted.
OMW contains many of the same compounds as olive oil, sometimes in much larger quantities. For example, many of olive oil’s benefits are thought to come from antioxidants, such as phenols, which can be toxic in large quantities, but are also known to reduce oxidative stress in the body – a key risk factor for inflammatory diseases.
Virgin olive oil contains only two percent of the phenols present in fresh olives, while extra virgin olive oil contains up to 53 percent, so it may be a more potent antioxidant than oil.
“Research on olive oil residues has definitely grown as the popularity of olive oil has grown,” Beckett added.
“ITS FUTURE POPULARITY WOULD DEPEND MORE ON MARKETING THAN ON SCIENCE”
Additionally, OMW contains high levels of other antioxidant compounds, such as tannins, anthocyanins and flavonols, and essential minerals such as potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron. Beckett mentioned that OMW was already sold as a health tonic, but that its future popularity may depend more on marketing than science.
“I haven’t tried it, but I imagine, from what it has, that it is not very tasty, so to sell it you have to blend it to cover the flavor, or take advantage of the intuition we have that healthy foods have a bad taste. OMW sits in a strange space between foods and supplements. “It’s concentrated, but it’s not a supplement, so it will be interesting to see how people market it.”
Likewise, there is an alternative: drinking pure seawater. Food manufacturers could extract bioactive compounds from it and add them to processed foods to improve their nutritional profile and extend their shelf life.
Some research has even indicated that OMW could be an effective pesticide, killing weeds and harmful microorganisms in the soil without harming crops, but it would have to be used in small quantities to avoid harming the environment.
Beckett commented that if OMW became more popular, she might end up trying it herself. “Never say never!” he said. “I support the value aspect and believe that to feed the world in a nutritious way as the population continues to grow, we must challenge our standard beliefs about what food and drink are.
“But I wouldn’t support that, or anything, becoming the next silver bullet for food fads, because that bubble will always burst.” N
(Published in cooperation with Newsweek. Published in cooperation with Newsweek)
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