Olive oil production in Australia has increased significantly in the past decade, and will soon reach about forty thousand tonnes per annum. While some Mediterranean countries have well established, modern olive oil industries, the Australian industry is still in its infancy. In order to compete in the world market, the Australian olive oil industry requires information on the response of olive cultivars in Australian conditions, especially when to harvest and irrigate to produce high quality olive oil. This study investigated the effect of harvest timing and irrigation on the quality of olive oil. It was conducted on a commercial olive grove in southern New South Wales over a three year period. It involved harvesting, extraction and analysis of the oil at 6 harvest times from early February to late July. A number of irrigation regimes were imposed in this study, although management was difficult due to drought conditions and lack of available water. The study provides very useful information and guidelines not only for the Australian olive industry, but also for the international olive oil producing community. / Master of Science (Hons)

Olive oil production in Australia has increased significantly in the past decade, and will soon reach about forty thousand tonnes per annum. While some Mediterranean countries have well established, modern olive oil industries, the Australian industry is still in its infancy. In order to compete in the world market, the Australian olive oil industry requires information on the response of olive cultivars in Australian conditions, especially when to harvest and irrigate to produce high quality olive oil. This study investigated the effect of harvest timing and irrigation on the quality of olive oil. It was conducted on a commercial olive grove in southern New South Wales over a three year period. It involved harvesting, extraction and analysis of the oil at 6 harvest times from early February to late July. A number of irrigation regimes were imposed in this study, although management was difficult due to drought conditions and lack of available water. The study provides very useful information and guidelines not only for the Australian olive industry, but also for the international olive oil producing community. / Master of Science (Hons)

Thesis (MTech (Food Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / Lipase-catalysed chemical transformations are today routinely considered by synthetic organic chemists as economical and competitive “green chemistry” alternatives. Although lipases can effortlessly be produced on a large-scale by fermentation, their industrial application was, until recently, limited to the detergent, oleo-chemistry and dairy industry. However, during the last few decades, the biotechnological application of lipases has expanded significantly, becoming indispensable in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, single cell protein production, biosensor preparations and waste management. Similarly, lipases have become a vital ingredient in the contemporary food processing industry with applications ranging from fruit juice production to baked foods, vegetable fermentations and dairy enrichment. Furthermore, lipases are routinely used as flavour development agents in cheese, butter and margarine products. Lipases are also applied in the leather industry for processing hides and skins and for treatment of activated sludge and other aerobic waste product treatments where its action enhances oxygen transfer. While lipases currently account for less than 21 % of the enzyme market, a growing interest in lipases is reflected by the publication of an average of 1000 research papers per year and the growing number of available lipases since the 1980s. There is a sustained interest to bioprospect for novel lipase enzymes from available unexplored biodiversity. This study aimed to screen for lipase-producing microorganisms resident in olive wastewater biofilms. Lipase activity of positive isolates was subsequently also quantitatively determined to select for the highest producers of true lipases. A Geotrichum candidum isolate from olive mill wastewater biofilms was selected for subsequent studies based on its superior lipase production phenotype. Using a yeast mediated ligation approach the G. candidum GCL1 lipase gene was cloned and heterologously expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as an enzyme production host. The recombinant lipase was purified and analysed in terms of substrate specificity, pH optima, temperature optima and stability as well as organic solvent tolerance. The G. candidum gcl1 lipase presented enhanced thermo- and organic solvent-stability that are highly sought after traits for industrial application.

Thesis (MTech (Food Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007 / The olive industry in South Africa, although small compared to the rest of the world, is rapidly expanding and producing increased volumes of wastewater on an annual basis that could in future develop into a major environmental problem. Olive mill wastewater (OMWW) and table olive wastewater (TOWW) are characterised by high chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and phenolic content that are toxic to the environment. Due to the nature of olive wastewater (OWW), its irresponsible and unregulated environmental release will result in oxygen depletion, nutrient enrichment and accumulation of toxic compounds in receiving water bodies that ultimately disrupts aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. An estimated 3500 - 4500 tons of olives are processed on an annual basis by 51 farmers .in the Western Cape. Economic forecasts predict a steady growth, i.e. increased production and processing of olives in the South African olive industry, in the future due to consumer demand. These production increases will consequently lead to increased volumes of wastewater production, which would, in tum, require an expansion of treatment capacity of the wastewater prior to release. Two South African olive factories were chosen for this study: Buffet Olives, situated in Dal Josefat (Paarl), that produces table olives and Vesuvio Estate on Sorento farm (Wellington) that produce extra-virgin olive oil. Preliminary COD determinations showed that indigenous OWW biofilms within a rotating biological contactor set-up reduced the COD from TOWW and OMWW by 47% and 32%, respectively, over a l0-day period. These preliminary results strongly suggested that biofilms indigenous to OWW have the potential to remediate the pollution problems of OWW. However, the overall aim of this study was to determine how sustainable the application of indigenous biofilms in the OWW are over two production seasons and whether it would be feasible to apply and develop these naturally occurring biofilms as an effective bioremediation tool to reduce the COD and polyphenol content of OWW.