Olive oil is an essential part of culture, cuisine and commerce. Its high phenol content generates heart healthy effects; this characteristic makes it difficult to dispose of the ten million tons of waste generated annually to produce olive oil. Many tout the benefits of olive mill waste (OMW) as a fertilizer, others suggest its phenolic content is phytotoxic. We probe the bioavailability of OMW phenols to multiple squash species. Squash were dosed with known phenol concentrations and the uptake of these phenols was determined using GCMS after a suitable growing period. Extractions of plant matter with methanol show trace amounts of tyrosol and vanillic acid in the root and leaf of dosed squash not present in the control plants. The growth of plants dosed with ppm levels of phenols did not suffer appreciably it appears that some phenols are bioavailable to plants, leading us to question this alternative disposal mechanism.

Toxic gold? Bioavailability of olive oil waste phenols to plant matter

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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