Development of a Simplified System for the Continuous PEF Treatment of Olives Paste

The olive oil extraction is a complex process that requires several machines arranged in series until the plant is built. Currently, the extraction process does not allow the totality of the oil present in the olives to be extracted, unfortunately a significant amount of the product is lost in the by-products and waste. Recently the pulsed electric fields (PEF) applied to the process have given positive effects by increasing the percentage of oil extracted compared to the traditional plant configuration. In order to allow a greater diffusion of this technology in the mill, a simplified PEF plant it has been developed specifically for small oil extraction plants and an experimental test program has been developed to verify the effectiveness of the technology. A comparative experimental tests plant was carried out using two different varieties of olives (Frantoio and Leccino) treated at two different specific energies (4.0 and 5.0 kJ kg-1), the amount of olive oil lost in the pomace and extractability was found