Publications

The regulatory landscape for bio-based ingredients derived from agri-food side streams is evolving rapidly within the European Union. This review examines the applicability of Novel Food Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 to protein hydrolysates and bioactive peptides recovered from olive pomace, tomato pomace, and citrus peel, as developed within the REVALOR project. We map the regulatory pathway from initial risk characterisation through EFSA safety assessment to market authorisation, and identify seven categories of commonly overlooked data requirements that cause delays in applications. A decision-tree tool developed for project partners streamlines the regulatory triage for new ingredient submissions. We further assess current market readiness in three sectors — functional foods, clinical nutrition, and cosmetics — presenting a technology readiness level (TRL) benchmarking framework applicable to bio-based ingredient pipelines.

We present a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) of the REVALOR biorefinery route for olive pomace valorisation, benchmarked against two conventional management scenarios: direct thermal treatment (combustion for energy recovery) and landfill disposal. The functional unit is 1 tonne of wet olive pomace. The REVALOR route — comprising aqueous enzymatic fractionation, spray drying, and packaging — reduces global warming potential by 63% compared to combustion (0.42 vs. 1.13 kg CO₂-eq/FU) and by 87% compared to landfill. Freshwater eutrophication is the only impact category in which the REVALOR route performs less favourably than combustion, primarily due to water use in the enzymatic step; a sensitivity analysis shows that closed-loop water recycling eliminates this disadvantage. The study confirms that circular valorisation of olive pomace into food-grade ingredients is environmentally superior across 11 of 12 mid-point impact categories assessed according to the EN ISO 14040/14044 framework.

Olive pomace is generated at a rate of approximately 4.5 million tonnes per year in Spain alone, yet the majority of this biomass is processed at low economic value. We report a two-stage, aqueous-only enzymatic fractionation protocol that simultaneously recovers protein-rich fractions (yield 68 ± 3.2%) and phenolic compounds (yield 74 ± 2.8%) from olive pomace at 50-litre pilot scale. The process employs a sequential cellulase–protease treatment under mild conditions (pH 5.5–6.8, 45–55 °C), avoids organic solvents entirely, and achieves an energy intensity of 1.8 MJ/kg dry weight. Recovered protein fractions exhibited in vitro digestibility of 82% and polyphenol fractions displayed DPPH radical-scavenging activity of IC₅₀ = 12.4 µg/mL, qualifying both for food-grade applications. This work provides a scalable, low-impact route for the circular valorisation of olive mill residues within a zero-waste biorefinery framework.