Methods of making olive juice extracts containing reduced solids

Abstract

Solids, including fibers can be easily removed from olive juice by mixing the olive juice with a water-miscible solvent to form two phases and separating the phases. Preferably the solvent is ethanol.

1 . A non-bitter hydroxytyrosol enriched olive juice extract produced by removing at least some of the solids present in an olive juice by a method consisting essentially of:
 (a) adding a pH adjuster to the olive juice to obtain a pH of at least 6;   (b) adding to the olive juice at least one water-miscible or nearly water-miscible solvent selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, acetonitrile, acetone and glycol in an amount equal to about 40-200% by volume of the olive juice to form two phases; and   (c) separating the two phases and recovering the phase containing an olive juice which has at least some of the solids removed.   
     
     
         2 . The olive juice extract according to  claim 1 , wherein the solvent is ethanol. 
     
     
         3 . The olive juice extract according to  claim 1 , wherein step (c) comprises at least one step selected from the group consisting of a filtering step, a centrifugation step, a decanting step, and a step of removing a layer of the two phases. 
     
     
         4 . The olive juice extract according to  claim 1 , wherein the method further consisting essentially of (d) recovering the solvent of step (b). 
     
     
         5 . The olive juice extract according to  claim 4 , wherein the step (d) is practiced by evaporating the solvent while maintaining a pH below 6. 
     
     
         6 . The olive juice extract of  claim 1  or  4 , wherein step (a) is practiced by maintaining the olive juice at an elevated temperature and increasing the pH to at least 6 by adding the pH adjuster until the polyphenol concentration of the olive juice is increased. 
     
     
         7 . The olive juice extract according to  claim 1 , wherein the solids present in olive juice are not fibres. 
     
     
         8 . The olive juice extract according to  claim 6 , wherein the elevated temperature is from about 20 degrees to 100 degrees C., and the pH is from about 6 to about 10. 
     
     
         9 . The olive juice extract according to  claim 8 , wherein the elevated temperature is maintained until the pH remains unchanged for at least about 10 minutes. 
     
     
         10 . The olive juice extract according to  claim 6 , wherein step (a) is practiced by adding NaOH, KOH or mixtures thereof as the pH adjuster to the olive juice. 
     
     
         11 . The olive juice extract according to  claim 9 , wherein the temperature is about 60-90° C. and the pH is about 7-9. 
     
     
         12 . The olive juice extract of  claim 1 , wherein the method further consisting essentially of (d) freeze drying or spray drying the olive juice. 
     
     
         13 . The olive juice extract of  claim 4  or  12 , wherein step (c) comprises at least one step selected from the group consisting of a filtering step, a centrifugation step, a decanting step, and a step of removing a layer of the two phases. 
     
     
         14 . The olive juice extract of  claim 12 , wherein step (a) is practiced by maintaining the olive juice at an elevated temperature and increasing the pH to at least 6 by adding the pH adjuster until the polyphenol concentration of the olive juice is increased. 
     
     
         15 . The olive juice extract of  claim 12 , wherein the solids present in the olive juice are not fibres. 
     
     
         16 . The olive juice extract of  claim 15 , wherein the elevated temperature is from about 20 degrees to 100 degrees C., and the pH is from about 6 to about 10. 
     
     
         17 . The olive juice extract of  claim 16 , wherein the elevated temperature is maintained until the pH remains unchanged for at least about 10 minutes. 
     
     
         18 . The olive juice extract of  claim 14 , wherein step (a) is practiced by adding NaOH, KOH or mixtures thereof as the pH adjuster to the olive juice. 
     
     
         19 . The olive juice extract of  claim 17 , wherein the temperature is about 60-90° C. and the pH is about 7-9. 
     
     
         20 . The olive juice extract of  claim 1 , comprising at least about 2-8% hydroxytyrosol, other olive polyphenols, and no solids. 
     
     
         21 . The olive juice extract of  claim 20  which is in powdered form. 
     
     
         22 . A nutritional composition comprising the olive juice extract of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         23 . A feed composition comprising the olive juice extract of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         24 . A cosmetic composition comprising the olive juice extract of  claim 1 .