Use of ultrasound and pulsed electric fields technologies applied to the olive oil extraction process

In this work, ultrasound (US) and pulsed electric fields (PEF) were tested in an industrial olive oil mill. Olives of the cultivar Coratina were processed in a comparative mode, between a traditional process and an innovative process (involving US and PEF). The use of US in addition to the traditional malaxation process led to a significant improvement in extraction yield. PEF also showed a positive effect on extraction yield. The experiments showed the ability of US and PEF to modify the medium, with a consequent increase in the release of oil from cellular vacuoles. The results suggest that research should continue in this direction, by planning other several tests to optimise the machines’ functionality to improve the whole olive oil extraction process.