Museumization of olive oil mills: instruments for conservation of the heritage of the olive grove culture

Opposed to the historical concept of the olive oil mills as places just for transporting the fruit, milling and olive oil production, the growing interest in its museumization is turning them into gastronomic, cultural and ethnographic points of reference. This study analysed the components of the museumization of Andalusian olive oil mills, using the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) technique and employing the fuzzy-set approach (fsQCA). To that end, it draws on the definition of museum put forward by the more progressive elements of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The main implication from the results is that olive oil mill professionals should adapt the museum offer according to the needs and aspects identified by the causality results of the model, and design museumization strategies with actions tailored to olive oil tourism, in order to more effectively tackle the transformations needed in the sector and enable the conservation of olive cultural heritage.

Effect of storage time on the biodegradability of olive oil mill wastewater from the cold extraction of olive oil system

The olive oil processing industry’s liquid effluents (OMW) have a polluting capacity for the ecosystems. This study aimed to evaluate the physicochemical quality of OMW of two varieties of separated and combined olives cultivated in Khenchela Eastern Algeria, from the cold extraction of the olive oil extraction system. These was to determine their degree of pollution and biodegradability during one year of storage at ambient temperature to recommend the correct treatment for each storage time. Results of the measured parameters pH, EC,TSS percent, H2O percent, lipids, DM, OM, MM, VM, COT percent, NTK percent, C/N, BOD5, COD, BI, TOM, BOD5/COD show that wastewater from olive oil mills has an acid pH, and they are very loaded with organic matter evaluated in terms of COD and BOD5, quite filled with minerals. The storage of olive mill waste can reduce progressively the pollution caused by this waste. Whereas during one year, the reduction rate of COD, BOD5, TOM, BI, is respectively 29.4%, 54.8%, 39.16%, 54.2%, but C/N, BOD5/COD continue to increase as well as pH that continues to decrease during the storage. Accordingly, storing olive mill waste during a year reduces its pollution rate, so it is slowly biodegradable. When disposing of it, an adequate treatment procedure must be required to protect the environment.

Performance Evaluation of Helical Separators Applied to Olive Oil–Water Two-Phase Flows at Low Reynolds Numbers

One of the unit operations involved in the production of olive oil is the separation of liquid–liquid systems (and other multiphase flows) in their fundamental phases. The use of helical separators could be an alternative to be considered for that task in order to reduce energy consumption and improve the quality of products in olive oil mills (‘almazaras’). In this work, four models of helical separators have been built and tested in order to manage olive oil and water two-phase flows (with olive oil as the majority phase). Separation yields were analyzed from a dimensional analysis perspective, considering variables such as density and viscosity, flow rate, head losses, or the water concentration in the flows studied. The best separation yields (of the order of 80% to 100%) were obtained for olive oil–water two-phase flows in which the water concentrations could be higher, in some cases, than 5–10% for Reynolds numbers of below 60.

Tradition vs. Eco-Innovation: The Constraining Effect of Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) on the Implementation of Sustainability Measures in the Olive Oil Sector

Although eco-innovation in the agri-food sector is receiving increasing attention, the heterogeneity of firms operating in the sector encourages the development of specific sub-sectoral studies to define specific strategies. In this regard, the main goal of the present study is to evaluate the drivers of eco-innovation in the olive oil production sector. Our empirical method relies on data from Spanish olive oil mills, and uses qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). The results show that large olive oil cooperatives have an important commitment to sustainability, and that cooperation with a wider range of different agents encourages the implementation of eco-innovation, particularly among smaller firms. However, the main finding of the study is the limiting effect of belonging to a protected designation of origin (PDO) on the implementation of eco-innovative measures. Although traditional production of olive oil (production under a PDO) is still perceived as a central competitive advantage in olive oil firms, further efforts should be made to coordinate traditional elaboration with production under a more sustainable management approach.

New Insights on Protein Recovery from Olive Oil Mill Wastewater through Bioconversion with Edible Filamentous Fungi

Olive oil mills represent an important sector in the Mediterranean Sea Basin but also an environmental hazard due to untreated wastewater. Recovery of nutrients from olive oil mill wastewater (OMWW) as protein-rich microbial biomass can produce novel feed and reduce its chemical oxygen demand; however, low-protein containing products have been reported. New strategies leading to higher protein-containing fungal biomass could renew the research interest on bioconversion for pollution mitigation of OMWW. In this work, through cultivation of edible filamentous fungi (Aspergillus oryzae, Neurospora intermedia, and Rhizopus delemar), a link between the protein content in the originated fungal biomass, and the addition of nitrogen and medium dilution was established. Addition of nitrogen in the form of NaNO3 reduced the cultivation time from 96 h to 48 h while achieving a similar biomass mass concentration of 8.43 g/L and increased biomass protein content, from w = 15.9% to w = 29.5%. Nitrogen addition and dilution of OMWW, and consequent reduction of suspended solids, led to an increase in the protein content to up to w = 44.9%. To the best of our knowledge, the protein contents achieved are the highest reported to date and can open new research avenues towards bioconversion of OMWW using edible filamentous fungi.

Understanding the Behaviour of Olive Oil Tourists: A Cluster Analysis in Southern Spain

Olive oil tourism is a recent development in the countries of the Mediterranean basin, but it is now spreading to other regions of the world. The main reasons people are choosing this special interest tourism (SIT) are to find out about the culture surrounding olive oil and to enjoy the whole host of activities related to the product. This has led to the creation of strong links between olive oil tourism and other types of special interest tourism. The studies undertaken thus far to characterise the profile of olive oil tourism’s demand, and its motivations, expectations and needs, have been limited and partial, focusing on specific cases. Therefore, this paper aims to take a closer look at the demand for olive oil tourism. Based on a survey of 609 visitors to olive oil mills in the south of Spain, olive oil tourists were segmented according to the type of trip and the olive oil tourism experience enjoyed during the trip, using a two-step cluster analysis. The results obtained enabled us to identify four segments with well-differentiated behaviours, which will help stakeholders, policy makers and destination managers to reach decisions, with a view to adapting their product to the expectations and needs of potential customers.

Characterization of Olive Oil Tourism as a Type of Special Interest Tourism: An Analysis from the Tourist Experience Perspective

Olive oil tourism is an emerging activity that is sparking a growing interest among tourists seeking to partake in this experience and the self-fulfilment it offers. An ever-greater number of olive oil mills are diversifying their businesses to incorporate this type of tourism. In this article, olive oil tourism is characterized as a type of special interest tourism (SIT), under a demand-side approach. Based on quantitative research carried out with olive oil tourists, which examined the aspects of the destination they value, as well as their preferences and motivations for consumption, this article proposes four dimensions that are considered key for characterizing olive oil tourism as SIT: experience, sustainability awareness, the promotion of local culture, and the image of status and prestige held by the tourist. This proposal to characterize olive oil tourism as a type of SIT can contribute to the development of more effective and successful marketing strategies that orient olive oil tourism towards services that tourists value and demand. In turn, this will have an impact in terms of wealth creation for rural olive oil producing areas.

Techno-economic Analysis of the Olive Oil Mills Waste Valorisation for Energy Production: A Case Study of Corfu

Olive oil production in Greece is undoubtedly linked to its history and tradition. However, large quantities of by-products are produced (with the olive oil production) which are harmful to the environment. Those environmental problems are a result of the chemical composition of the waste and its high organic load. This intense phenomenon has led to the exploration and development of methods and technolog0ies for the treatment of olive mill waste. One of the methods used is the biogas production through anaerobic digestion and its subsequent disposal for energy production. This method could be particularly appealing to the Greek islands so that there is their energy dependence from the mainland. A typical example is the island of Corfu as the problem of waste from olive oil mills is intense and its energy demands are increased. Therefore, energy production via anaerobic digestion could greatly contribute to overcoming the current situation. The purpose of this study is to design a central power plant, which is fed by biogas, produced by the anaerobic digestion of the waste oil mills in Corfu and to present various economic data regarding its construction and operation.

A Social Analysis of the Olive Oil Sector: The Role of Family Business

Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) is one of the most popular products in Mediterranean diet. Spain produces about 52% of olive oil with the presence of larger firms; Italy follows with a share of 9% and a production structure characterized instead by small family businesses. A social analysis, based on a multiple-questionnaire, has analyzed the perspectives of 500 consumers conferring their olives to a family-owned olive oil mills (OOMs). This work aims to assess the role of family business evaluating the opportunities associated with the development of circular economy (CE) models. Results show that Italian consumers’ preferences give attention to the use of natural resource and the olive oil is perceived as a natural product. In addition, family owned-OOMs provide a great sense of trust and the relevant role of family within the entire life cycle of olive oil is demonstrated. OOMs that work for residential market are strongly preferred to industrial ones being able to manage single lots of olives belonging to the same customers’ land. The recovery of some by-products represents an opportunity for OOMs and policy support is required to favor the needed generational change, whose absence is perceived as a serious obstacle to the future development of the sector along circularity principles.