Dephenolisation of olive mill waste-waters by olive husk

Olive mill waste-waters (OMWW) are a by-product of olive-oil production and a major environmental problem in the Mediterranean area. The use of a polyphenol-oxidase from olive husk is proposed for the enzymatic removal of low-molecular phenolics in OMWW. For comparison purposes, a purified microbial polyphenol-oxidase (Trametes versicolor laccase) was also employed. Though both enzymatic systems show relevant activity towards phenol polymerization, olive husk is much more appealing in view of possible applications because of its availability and extremely low cost, associated with excellent enzymatic activity and specificity.