APPLICATION OF CLOUD POINT EXTRACTION USING SURFACTANTS IN THE ISOLATION OF PHYSICAL ANTIOXIDANTS (PHENOLS) FROM OLIVE MILL WASTEWATER

Abstract

SUMMARY The possibility of the application of Cloud Point Extraction (CPE) procedure on the isolation of natural antioxidants (phenols) from olive mill wastewater (OMW) was determined. The efficiency of the technique was firstly tested on individual phenols and phenol mixtures. The use of a surfactant (Triton X-114) was proven to be, in most of the cases, very efficient for the CPE of individual phenols from their aqueous solutions. The CPE with Triton X-114 achieved a quantitative extraction of individual phenols with recovery values higher than 96%, with one or more successive CPE steps and with a total of 4-6% of surfactant. This procedure was used on OMW (after the removal of fatty substances), and achieved recoveries higher than 60% when 6% of surfactant was used. Since Triton X-114 is a relatively non-toxic reagent and the CPE technique is a simple, fast, low-cost, sensitive and selective procedure, the extracted organic substances from OMW can be applied as natural antioxidants in food technology.