The waste from the olive oil making process has been a challenge since ancient times.
While some of the olive waste can be used as a raw material for fertilizer, especially in olive groves, much of it simply needs to be disposed of. But this is expensive, as olive waste is surprisingly toxic and cannot simply be buried in landfill. It must first be treated to prevent the run off from poisoning groundwater.
The next problem with olive waste is that there is a lot of it, as the environmental website, EcoMena reports, “The [typical] three-phase process usually yields 20% olive oil, 30% Olive Paste Cake [a dried solid residue] waste, and 50% Olive-Mill Water.”
Every ton of olive oil creates 4 tons of waste.
This is literally a massive problem as global production of olive oil now exceeds 3 million tons per year. As the industry is aiming to be part of the circular economy, there is a pressing need for a suitable use for olive waste, and now there may be a solution.
Growing olive oil production combined with an increase in livestock and poultry farming has made the idea of using olive waste as an animal feed raw material a logical one. In fact, it has inspired two entrepreneurs from Ireland to set up the Olive Feed Corporation. A start-up company which collects and processes olive waste at a facility in Nafplio, Greece, and turns it into animal feed.
The company believes that olive feed improves meat flavour, and so is focusing its feed sales on specialist, high-end Wagyu Cattle. This is based on their belief that olive feed produces superior Wagyu beef than more traditional feeds. As the company states, “Japanese studies show a 50% increase in Glutamic Acid which not only has health and nutritional benefits but significantly affects Umami [a category of taste corresponding to the flavour of glutamates] and flavour profile of the meat along with an increase in tenderness. [While] Carnosine increased by 100%.”
But while olives as a feed additive may improve meat quality, it comes with a number of drawbacks; one of which is storage. As a UN report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation states, “The main problem in preserving crude olive cake is its relatively high water content and the still large quantity of oil it retains. When exposed to air this type of olive cake quickly becomes rancid and unfit for animal consumption.” Adding that, “It has been estimated that crude olive cake obtained by centrifugation, being wetter, deteriorates after 4–5 days, whereas olive cake obtained by pressure deteriorates after about 15 days; dehydrated, the same olive cake probably could not be stored longer than 45 days. On the other hand, exhausted olive cake which has also been dehydrated during the extraction process could be stored for over a year.”
Added to problems of storage is the need to remove toxins from the olive cake prior to using it as a feed ingredient. As the industry journal the Progressive Dairyman reports, “Concerns associated with olive pulp as a feedstuff for livestock are the amounts of total-extractable tannins (approximately 10%) and total-extractable polyphenols (approximately 14%) because these compounds might reduce feed intake and/or animal performance.” Adding that, “The concern about condensed tannins is that their consumption by animals, typically referring to non-human animals, has been associated with damage to the liver, kidneys and gastro-intestinal tract.”
However, the Olive Feed Corporation’s founder, Gavin Dunne, claims that this problem has now been overcome by a “special cooking process” that transforms potentially toxic olive waste into “palatable, digestible and safe animal feed.” He also states that the beef fat from cows fed olive waste is, “juicier and more flavoursome”.
As the company’s website explains, “Olive Feed not only creates an incredibly unique beef flavour, but also significantly improves the nutritional profile of meat. The increased tenderness and buttery Olive flavour are created by high levels of Oleic Acid, Monounsaturated Fats and Glutamic Acid.”
If the toxic nature of olive waste has been overcome, then the company’s ability to turn a problematic waste by-product into a much need raw material fits elegantly into the ideals of the circular economy. A point highlighted by the President of Ireland during his visit to the processing plant, when he commented that, “this wonderfully innovative and creative idea can help solve global environmental issues.”
While the company is still very new, and faces the typical challenges of other start-ups, the business has a very clear model, and certainly plenty of ambition.
As Dunne announced in a recent press release, “Sanuki Olive Fed Wagyu Beef from Japan is currently the highest priced beef in the world and it is double the price of Kobe Beef. However, we are changing that by offering the same feed to cows but on much more reasonable prices.” Adding that, “Our goal is at one point in the future to take all of that polluting Olive Waste produced worldwide and turn it into feed.”
AG CHEMI GROUP is a supplier of industrial feed additives, including feed grade monocalcium phosphate or MCP.
MCP has the following features and advantages:
- neutralizes the harmful effects of a number of elements - sodium, potassium, magnesium, and others
- ensures the proper functioning of the heart, nervous and muscular systems, as well as many other organs
- improves digestion, by increasing the activity of digestive enzymes
- strengthens the immune system
- participates in the relocation of lipids, protein biosynthesis, and the cleansing of the intestine from harmful substances
- improves the efficiency of carbohydrate, protein, fat, mineral, and energy metabolism in the body
- does not contain heavy metal impurities
- does not have a destructive effect on enzymes and vitamins, nor does it block the effect of proteins and the amino acids
- contains the highest degree of digestibility (bioavailability)
- a minimal amount of phosphorus is released in animal waste, limiting environmental pollution
- contains a minimal amount of mineral mixture for maximum digestibility
MCP – Animal Feed’s Most Effective Growth Supplement
MCP acts as an inorganic phosphate supplement and plays an important role in the animal feed industry. It provides animals with calcium and phosphorus, which helps to improve an animal's organism, metabolism, and the functioning of nervous, immune and reproductive systems thereby increasing productivity.
Specification
Ask For Price
Technical aspects of Monocalcium phosphate produced by the Phosagro group:
Production
PJSC PhosAgro
https://www.phosagro.com
The most important quality indicators
Indicator |
Value |
Total phosphorus (in terms of P) |
min. 22.3% |
Total phosphorus soluble in 2% citric acid |
min. 95% |
Mass fraction of calcium |
min. 15% |
Residue on a sieve with a cell diameter |
> 3 mm - 0% 0,2 - 2 mm - 80% ≤ 0,2 mm - max. 20% |
Light gray fine-grained flowable powder |
granulated |
Packing
- 800, 1000 kg BB
- silo truck (pneumatic tank)
Based on recent studies, phosphorus from monocalcium phosphate is more useful for livestock and poultry than other inorganic sources, as the percentage digested is much higher. The addition of monocalcium phosphate to feed mixtures provides an increase in live weight of livestock and poultry by 5-12% higher in comparison with other types of feed phosphates. Monocalcium phosphate can be safely used for feed without any harmful consequences. Adding monocalcium phosphate to the diet of your livestock and poultry will increase their productivity, and bring excellent biological, energy, and economic benefits.
Photo credit: OliveFeedCorporation, ProgressiveDairyman, SavorIsrael, OliveOilTimes, Solid, & Innoliva