I.

Characteristics of the olive mill waste waters

1. Physicochemical characteristics:
OMWW have a very complex and heterogeneous chemical composition. They contain a variety of
organic and mineral compounds, of a distinct nature and concentration. This variation is mainly due to
the extraction processes of olive oil which is the most important section, at the stage of maturity of the
olives, at the diversity of the olive trees, the climatic conditions, the storage period of the olives before
crushing, the cultivation system, the geographical location, the nature of the preservation of the olives
and the techniques and place of storage.

The physico-chemical characterization of vegetable waters is generally dependent on procedures and

systems used for olive oil extraction and differ from one country to another.

 Chemical composition of the olive oil mill waste :

The olive oil mill waste water present an intense pink-brown or black color, with a strong olive odor, a
cloudy appearance and a pH of 4 to 6 with a strong buffering capacity. Their composition has been well
studied and comprises approximately 90% water, 7 to 15% organic matter and 1 to 2% mineral
substances (Fiestas Ros de Ursinos, 1981). The organic composition varies depending on the stage of
ripening of the olives, the process extraction, climatic conditions and the variety of the olive tree. The
press system traditional produces a volume of vegetable water of the order of 0.4 to 0.5 m3 / t of olives
produced (Boari et al., 1984) which can go up to 2 m3 / t with the continuous system. DCO and DB05 can
respectively exceed 100 and 200 gli (Salice et al., 1982)

 Phenolic compounds

Phenolic compounds include many organic substances that al possess an aromatic ring with one or more
substituted hydroxyl groups and a functional side-chain. Natural phenolic compounds include simple
molecules, such as phenolic acids, and highly polymerized compounds such as tannins. The most
common forms of phenolic compounds are conjugated with various sugar molecules(mono-, di-, or
oligosaccharides), organic acids and lipids (fats), or even with other phenols linked to hydroxyl groups or,
less frequently, to aromatic carbon atoms;

The studies conducted on the composition of OMW indicated that this effluent contains 83–92% of
water as a major part and large amounts of organic molecules, particularly polyphenolic mixtures with
different molecular weights and other organic molecules, including nitrogen compounds, sugars, organic
acids, and pectins that increase their organic load (Amaral et al. 2008; Massadeh et al. 2008; Danellakis
et al. 2011; Ntougias et al. 2013; Bouknana et al. 2014; Mseddi et al. 2015; Alaoui et al. 2016; El Yamani
et al. 2017). The most common practice for the management of OMW includes the use of evaporation
ponds and the subsequent discharge of solids in landfills and on soil. However, evaporation do not
contribute to the reduction of OMW toxicity, which makes the problem is always persistent. Several
other treatment options have been investigated to search the best potential solutions, and these can be
divided into four general categories: physicochemical methods (e.g., coagulation-flocculation,
adsorption, combustion, and different membranes processes), biological methods (e.g., aerobic and
anaerobic treatment), and oxidation processes (e.g., ozonation, wet air, and Fenton oxidation).
Combined processes haves also proposed to overcome the weaknesses of each method and to increase
the processing efficiency (Adhoum and Monser 2004; Paraskeva et al. 2006; Kapellakis et al. 2008;
Coskun et al. 2010; Sampaio et al. 2011; Di Lecce et al. 2014; Amor et al. 2015; Martins et al. 2015;
Weber et al. 2015). The complex composition of OMW and their poor biodegradability due mainly to the
presence of phenolic compounds, lipids, and organic acids make simple treatment methods not sufficient
to ensure their purification. Moreover, treatment of OMW requires high capital and operating cost units
with limited efficiency due to high polluting loads. Recently, several research carried out on OMW had
focused on their valorization through numerous applications (e.g., composting, use as fertilizer, biogas
production, recovery of valuable compounds) (Zenjari 2000; Capasso et al. 2002; Visioli et al. 2005; Sarris
et al. 2013; Elkacmi et al. 2016; El-Abbassi et al. 2017).