The platform
What we are
able to do.
Olive oil polyphenols — and specifically Oleacein and Oleocanthal — are among the most bioactive compounds in the Mediterranean diet. They are also among the most difficult to retain at meaningful concentrations through standard industrial processing. This is the problem we have addressed, and solved, at scale.
The problem
Most polyphenols are lost
before the oil reaches the bottle.
The standard olive oil extraction process is a seven-phase sequence: harvesting, washing, crushing, malaxation, extraction, storage, packaging. The critical phase for polyphenol retention is malaxation — the stage at which the olive paste is slowly mixed to allow oil droplets to coalesce and separate from the aqueous phase.
During malaxation, enzymatic activity converts Oleuropein and Ligstroside — precursor glycosides — into their respective aglycones Oleacein and Oleocanthal. These are the secoiridoids with the most extensively documented bioactive profiles. However, because these compounds are amphiphilic — partially soluble in both water and oil — a significant fraction partitions into the aqueous phase and is lost with the wastewater. In the decanter system, which requires added water to facilitate centrifugation, this loss is compounded further.
The result is that most commercially produced olive oil retains only a fraction of the polyphenol potential present in the fruit. The cultivar, the harvest timing, and the mill all matter — but the extraction process itself systematically works against retention.
In the partition experiments underlying the process, contacting oil with unmodified water transferred more than 80% of the Oleacein out of the lipid phase.
The approach
Shifting the equilibrium
with ionic strength.
The distribution of a compound between two immiscible phases — in this case the lipid phase and the aqueous phase of olive paste — is governed by its partition coefficient. For amphiphilic molecules like Oleacein and Oleocanthal, this coefficient is not fixed: it responds to changes in the ionic environment of the aqueous phase.
When the ionic strength of the aqueous phase is increased — by the addition of food-grade salts at concentrations approaching saturation — the solubility of amphiphilic organic compounds in water is reduced. This is the salting-out effect, a well-characterised physicochemical phenomenon. The partition coefficient shifts in favour of the lipid phase: a higher proportion of the secoiridoids present in the paste is retained in the oil rather than transferred to the wastewater.
The salt acts in the aqueous phase only. Sodium chloride is ionic and does not partition into the lipid phase: it modulates the equilibrium without entering the finished oil.
Salt addition is timed thirty minutes into malaxation — deliberately after the enzymatic conversion of precursors into Oleacein and Oleocanthal has begun. This sequencing ensures that partition modulation acts on the already-formed bioactive secoiridoids rather than on their precursors. A secondary effect is the inhibition of polyphenol oxidase, the enzyme responsible for phenolic oxidation during processing, which further preserves the polyphenol concentration in the final oil.
Among the salts evaluated — NaCl, CaCl₂, KCl, NaH₂PO₄, MgCl₂, NaNO₃ and (NH₄)₂SO₄ — all produced measurable retention improvements. NaH₂PO₄ at 4M showed the strongest effect, retaining 85.55% of Oleacein and 97.11% of Oleocanthal in the oil phase. For industrial scale-up, NaCl at 4M was selected on grounds of cost, availability, and regulatory status as a food-grade processing aid.
Industrial results · EVOO
Three mills. One cultivar.
Consistent results.
Scale-up was conducted at three non-experimental commercial facilities: one in the Puglia region, two in Lazio. All operated as three-phase mills. The test cultivar was Coratina — selected for its characteristically high secoiridoid baseline, which allowed the enrichment effect to be measured with greater resolution.
Results were consistent across facilities. The polyphenol profile was quantified by UPLC-DAD-MS. Fatty acid composition, volatile compounds, and organoleptic parameters were analysed by Chemiservice S.r.l., an IOC-recognised laboratory operating under UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17025.
Total polyphenols · +55%
HTy equivalents · Folin-Ciocalteu
Oleacein · +170%
p < 0.01 · UPLC-DAD-MS
Oleocanthal · +21%
p < 0.05 · UPLC-DAD-MS
Chlorophyll ×3 · Carotenoids ×2.3
Spectrophotometric analysis · NanoDrop
Extraction yield +10%
Osmotic gradient effect on cell membranes
Fatty acid profile: unchanged
IOC-accredited analysis · Chemiservice S.r.l.
The volatile compound profile shows modifications in some aldehyde and alcohol fractions — notably an increase in 2-hexenal — consistent with findings reported in prior literature on NaCl addition during malaxation. The organoleptic characteristics of the oil are not negatively affected.
Publication
Laurenti, Di Risola, Francioso, Federico, Lendaro, Gasbarrone, Bonifazi, Fontana, Mosca, Mattioli — An Innovative Strategy to Enhance Polyphenol Content and Quality Traits of Olive Oil and Valorization of Mill Wastewater — eFood, John Wiley & Sons, 2026
DOI 10.1002/efd2.70156 ↗Documented results · Seed oil
The same principle,
any lipid substrate.
Olive mill wastewater — the aqueous byproduct of extraction — carries a substantial polyphenol load. Under standard management conditions, this load represents a disposal problem: the polyphenol concentration is high enough to be phytotoxic if the wastewater is applied to soil without adequate dilution.
The same ionic strength principle applied during EVOO production can be used in reverse: by adding NaCl to the wastewater at 6M concentration and mixing with seed oil, the partition coefficient shifts and polyphenols transfer from the aqueous phase into the lipid matrix. The wastewater becomes the polyphenol donor. Any seed oil — corn, sunflower, or any other lipid substrate — can serve as the recipient.
The transfer figures below were obtained at laboratory scale, using corn oil as the recipient matrix. The industrial scale-up described above concerns olive oil production at the three mills.
Total polyphenols transferred to corn oil as a function of H₂Oveg/oil volume ratio · NaCl 6M · Folin-Ciocalteu · laboratory scale
The polyphenol profile of the enriched seed oil is dominated by Oleacein, which ranges between 598 and 851 mg/kg across the ratios tested, and Oleocanthal, which increases linearly from 80 to 245 mg/kg. Hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol are present at low concentrations (0.88–1.24 mg/kg and 2.39–4.43 mg/kg respectively), consistent with their higher hydrophilicity and correspondingly lower transfer efficiency into the lipid phase. Individual secoiridoids were quantified by UPLC-DAD-MS.
The process simultaneously reduces the polyphenol load in the wastewater — addressing the phytotoxicity concern — while generating an enriched lipid ingredient from a zero-cost source. The technique is applicable to any oil mill generating wastewater and any downstream formulator requiring a polyphenol-enriched lipid base.
What this means
Documented. Replicable.
Available for discussion.
The process has been validated at industrial scale for olive oil production across multiple facilities and published in full in peer-reviewed literature. The underlying intellectual property is filed, granted, and documented. The full dataset is available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.
Active-Italia S.r.l. is available for technical discussion on the process parameters, their adaptation to specific substrates and facilities, and potential applications in nutraceutical, cosmetic, and functional food contexts.
