Enzymes for olive oil extraction

Higher yields and a more sustainable production

Squeeze more oil from your olives

Our enzymes increase your yields so you can squeeze more oil from every ton of olives. They also help cut your losses by reducing residual oil in the pomace. Enzymes give you a better production process by modifying the paste condition and allowing your equipment to operate more smoothly. Oil/ water separation and oil clarification are also faster and more efficient with enzymes.

Listen to our webinar about the benefits of using enzymes for olive oil extraction

The olive production for EVOO has expanded beyond European borders into new territories where different extraction tools are applied with focus on sustainability, olive oil quality and smooth operations. With the present high value of olive oil producers seek higher yields without compromising oil quality and they also look for more sustainable processes generating lower oil losses with the pomace waste, lower energy and water consumption, smoother operations and less frequent maintenance cycles.

Learn more in this webinar presented by Pablo Canamasas in Spanish language in May 2023

(English version is also available - please contact us directly)

Enzymes support the trend of early harvesting

What are the main advantages of an early start of the harvest season?

1. For the oil: oils from fruits of lower maturity index (MI) typically have longer oxidative stability and shelf life. They also have better sensorial quality than those from medium and late season.

2. For your olive trees: lower chances of suffering frost events and fungal diseases. It also decreases the typical alternate bearing phenomenon. This will allow for more consistent crops over the years.

3. For you: higher crop yield on a per hectare basis. Processing olives of low MI is easier with enzymes.

See our solutions

Enzymes improve oil recovery on a wide range of olive varieties

Difficult-to-process as well as easier to process olive cultivars equally benefit from the use of enzymes by yielding more oil on a per ton basis. Extensive testing work carried out on cultivars Picual, Arbequina, Coratina, Arbosana and several others show that under most fruit conditions (fruit oil and moisture content, fruit maturity, fruit size etc.) enzymes improve oil recovery as well as paste consistency allowing for a smoother process.

Yield increase

Depending on the fruit condition, enzymes can increase yields by 1-2%. This also means a more environmentally friendly pomace with less residual oil.

A smoother industrial process

Since paste viscosity is lowered, the processing equipment energy consumption is also decreased. By releasing oil from the paste quicker, enzymes allow for a faster, more effective process.

Faster oil clarification

The enzymes’ paste/ oil separation activity gives way to cleaner oils at the end of the industrial process, reducing their clarification time.

Perfectly suited for early harvest fruit

Enzymes allow us to start harvest earlier in order to obtain better quality oils without significantly compromising oils yields.

Want to understand the potential in using enzymes?

Enzymes are recognized as being very effective in improving oil recovery, but what does it mean for you in terms of extra yield and money?

Try our online calculator and get an estimate for your production. We have prefilled it with standard numbers, but feel free to test your specific numbers.

Calculate

Which product is right for you?

Find the right solution for you in our global portfolio, shown below. To find out more about products available in your region, get in touch with your local Novozymes representative. Find out more.

	Process step	Typical dosage/1,000 kg of olives/vegetables
Pectinex XXL	Malaxination; olive maturity index 2.5 - 4	300 - 400 ml
Pectinex® Ultra Olio	Malaxination; olive maturity index 1 - 3	100 - 300 ml
Ultimase® BWL 40	Malaxination; olive maturity index 1 - 2.5	40 - 60 ml
Viscozyme® L	Malaxination; olive maturity index 1 - 4	100 - 250 ml