Search

Sustainable methods for enhancing the quality of medicinal herbs are required to provide high amounts of antioxidants widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industry. In this study, the impact of olive pomace (OMP) addition on total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant activity of two selected Rosmarinus officinalis at different proportions 0 and 25% of OMP was examined. The experiments were done in a shade house at the National Agency of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Taounate, Morocco. The various parameters TPC, TFC, antioxidant activity (DPPH), pH, CEC (meq.100g-1), EC (μS.cm-1), macroand micronutrient content (mg.kg-1), and nutrient uptake (g. plant-1) were measured after the samples were extracted by sonication. The results indicated that rosemary leaves treated with 25% OMP amendment exhibited the highest TPC (68.48 mg GAE g-1 DW), TFC (6.13 ± 6.103 mg GAE g-1 DW), and antioxidant activity (1.279± 0.26 mg/mL DW). Additionally, the addition of OMP to the soil increased the level of macro- and micronutrients, mainly P, K, and Ca, as well as nutrient absorption factors including P, K, Ca, Cu, and Zn in the rosemary leaves, all of which were increased slightly but significantly. Notably, there was a positive association between DPPH, TPC, TFC, and soil organic matter. These results show that OMP addition has a great impact on the nutritional quality of rosemary leaves and directly increases TPC, TFC, and antioxidant activity. This study emphasizes the positive impacts of OMP on the bioactive qualities and overall nutrient profile of rosemary plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Olive pomace is generated during the production of olive oil. The disposal of olive pomace presents a serious environmental issue to the agricultural community in Morocco. Among all actions devoted to the reduction of olive pomace waste, their revaluation seems to be the most efficient and advantageous from both environmental and economic points of view. Due to its high moisture content, solar drying constitutes an important and promising solution for a possible bio-fuel conversion of olive pomace. For this purpose, a modified uneven-span greenhouse dryer was designed and installed at the faculty of sciences Semlalia, Marrakech, Morocco. An experimental study of solar drying kinetics of the olive pomace was conducted to test the performances of the modified greenhouse dryer under a hybrid (solar/hot air) forced convection mode. The hot-air blower was supplied by electricity from a PV array installed near the greenhouse. The mean temperatures of air within the greenhouse and of the olive waste during the drying hours reached, respectively, 63 °C and 55 °C (from August 3rd to August 5th). The duration of the drying operation of 300 kg of waste from a moisture content of 50 mass% to 19 mass% was 27 h, which was low compared to the open sun drying. Therefore, hybrid forced mode enabled a considerable reduction in drying time, being an aspect to take into account for its use during low solar radiation. The drying kinetics of thin layer two-phase olive pomace was also investigated. The Two-term Gaussian model was found to be the most suitable model to describe the thin layer drying behavior of the two-phase olive pomace dried under hybrid forced convection greenhouse drying mode. In addition, the Fourier series was used to solve the diffusivity equation inside the two-phase olive pomace. The effective diffusivity was found to be 2.0 10–09 m2 s−1 and 2.3 10–09 m2 s−1 using the linear fit and the slope from two successive points methods, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspective of sustainable agriculture established by the Green Morocco Plan, it is interesting to direct research more towards the agronomic valorization of olive pomace, to give birth to a clean olive growing which leads to a viable economy thus respecting a pillar of sustainable development. Several studies have shown the effectiveness of using olive pomace as a soil amendment. Therefore, in this study we want to increase the agricultural performance of olive pomace by composting by mixing it with other waste. Morocco is considered one of the major olive-producing countries with an annual production of 1.41 million tonnes (MT), part of it is dedicated to olive oil production. Morocco produces approximately 26.8 MT of waste annually, 8.3 MT are household waste, 70% are organic household waste (5.8 MT). The current production of organic household waste in urban areas is estimated at 4.8 million tonnes per year, or an average of 0.76 kg per hab per day, and in rural areas 1 million tonnes per year, or an average of 0.30 kg per hab per day (SNRVD, 2015). Agrifood industry waste is around 3 million tonnes with 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes of olive oil waste (pomace) (Agricultural Development Agency, 2018). The rejection of this waste without any prior treatment contributes to the environment deterioration. However, a large part of this waste remains recoverable, which would reduce both waste volume to be eliminated and the associated management cost. This; will contribute to reducing the negative impacts on receiving environments and the cost of restoring the environment state, and ensuring a transition towards a circular economy. Our work is part of the context of solid waste management and recovery, in particular organic waste from household and food-processing activities, and is oriented towards the pomace recovery by composting, mixing it with different percentages of organic household waste. This work consists on composting olive pomace from the three phases system with another structural agent (organic household waste). Comparing the mixtures (6 treatments) with different concentrations in terms of composting process parameters (pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter temperature, etc.), organic matter evolution and composts quality, with manual aeration of the compost, in order to increase the agricultural yield of the olive pomace. Residues from the fermentation process can be used in agriculture. All the different mixtures of the different percentages are characterized at the initial state and at the end of the composting process in order to highlight their nutritional values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]