Synthesis of caffeic acid and p-hydroxybenzoic acid molecularly imprinted polymers and their application for the selective extraction of polyphenols from olive mill waste waters

Using caffeic acid and p-hydroxybenzoic acid as templates, two molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were prepared that were used for isolation of polyphenols from olive mill waste water samples (OMWWs) without previous pre-treatment. For the preparation of the caffeic acid MIPs 4-vinylpyridine, allylurea, allylaniline and methacrylic acid were tested as functional monomers, ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate (EDMA), pentaerythritol trimethylacrylate (PETRA) and divinylbenzene 80 (DVB80) as cross-linkers and tetrahydrofuran as porogen. For p-hydroxybenzoic acid 4-vinylpyridine, allylurea and allylaniline were tested as functional monomers, EDMA and PETRA as cross-linkers and acetonitrile as porogen. The performance of the synthesized polymers was evaluated against seven structurally related compounds by means of polymer-based HPLC. The two polymers that presented the most interesting properties were further evaluated by batch rebinding and from the derived isotherms their capacity and binding strength were determined. Using solid-phase extraction (SPE), their ability to recognize and bind the template molecule from an aqueous solution as well as the pH dependence of the binding strength were explored. After establishing the best SPE protocol, an aqueous model mixture of compounds and a raw OMWWs sample were loaded on the two best polymers. The result of the consecutive use of the two polymers on the same sample was explored. It was concluded that acidic conditions favour the recognition abilities of both polymers and that they can be used for a quick and efficient isolation of the polyphenol fraction directly from raw OMWW.

Development of a novel continuous statistical modelling technique for detecting the adulteration of extra virgin olive oil with hazelnut oil by using spectroscopic data

The adulteration of extra virgin olive oil with other vegetable oils is a certain problem with economic and health consequences. Current official methods have been proved insufficient to detect such adulterations. One of the most concerning and undetectable adulterations with other vegetable oils is the addition of hazelnut oil. The main objective of this work was to develop a novel dimensionality reduction technique able to model oil mixtures as a part of an integrated pattern recognition solution. This final solution attempts to identify hazelnut oil adulterants in extra virgin olive oil at low percentages based on spectroscopic chemical fingerprints. The proposed Continuous Locality Preserving Projections (CLPP) technique allows the modelling of the continuous nature of the produced in house admixtures as data series instead of discrete points. This methodology has potential to be extended to other mixtures and adulterations of food products. The maintenance of the continuous structure of the data manifold lets the better visualization of this examined classification problem and facilitates a more accurate utilisation of the manifold for detecting the adulterants.

Virgin Olive Oil: Losses of Antioxidant Polar Phenolic Compounds due to Storage, Packaging, and Culinary Uses

Virgin olive oil is a high quality natural product obtained only by physical means. In addition to triacylglycerols it contains nutritionally important polar and non-polar antioxidant phenols and other bioactive ingredients. The polar fraction is a complex mixture of phenolic acids, simple phenols, derivatives of the glycosides oleuropein and ligstroside, lignans, and flavonoids. These compounds contribute significantly to the stability, flavor, and biological value of virgin olive. In the various stages of production, during storage and in the culinary uses, polar phenols and other valuable bioactive ingredients may be damaged. Oxidation, photo-oxidation, enzymic hydrolysis and heating at frying temperatures have a serious adverse effect. Due to the biological importance of the oil and its unique character, analytical methods have been developed to evaluate antioxidant activity or analyse complex phenol mixtures. These are based on radical scavenging assays and chromatographic techniques. Hyphenated methods are also used including liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Chemistry and Mechanism of Alizarin Red S and Methylene Blue Biosorption onto Olive Stone: Equilibrium and Kinetic

The biosorption process of anionic dye Alizarin Red S (ARS) and cationic dye methylene blue (MB) as a function of solution pH, initial concentration and contact time onto olive stone (OS) biomass has been investigated. The main objectives of the current study are to: (i) study the chemistry and the mechanism of ARS and MB biosorption onto olive stone and the type of OS–ARS, MB interactions occurring, (ii) study the biosorption equilibrium and kinetic experimental data required for the design and operation of column reactors. Equilibrium biosorption isotherms and kinetics were also examined. Experimental equilibrium data were fitted to four different isotherms by non-linear regression method, however, the biosorption experimental data for ARS and MB dyes were well interpreted by the Temkin and Langmuir isotherms, respectively. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacity for ARS and MB dyes were 109.0 and 102.6 mg/g, respectively. The kinetic data of the two dyes could be better described by the pseudo second-order model. The data showed that olive stone can be effectively used for removing dyes from wastewater.

Simultaneous biosorption of methylene blue and trivalent chromium onto olive stone

In this work, olive stone (OS) was utilized to investigate its capacity as biosorbent for methylene blue (MB) and Cr(III), which are usually present in textile industry effluents. Equilibrium and kinetic experiments were performed in batch experiments. The biosorption process followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. The equilibrium data were fitted with several models, but Langmuir and Sips models best reproduced the experimental results. Maximum biosorption capacities were 3.296 mg/g (0.0116 mmol/g) and 4.990 mg/g (0.0960 mmol/g) for MB and Cr(III), respectively. Several operation variables, such as
biosorbent mass, flow rate, and initial concentration on the removal of dye and metal, were evaluated in column system. The removal efficiency improved as OS mass increased and decreased when flow rate and initial concentration increased. Also, MB uptake was substantially decreased by increasing the initial concentration of Cr(III), ranging from 6.09 to 2.75 mg/g. These results show that the presence of Cr(III) significantly modifies the biosorption capacity of MB by the OS. These results suggest that OS is a potential low-cost food industry waste for textile industry wastewater treatment.

Mechanism of Alizarin Red S and Methylene Blue Biosorption onto Olive Stone: Isotherm study in Single and Binary Systems

The biosorption process of anionic dye Alizarin Red S (ARS) and cationic dye methylene blue (MB) as a function of contact time, initial concentration and solution pH onto olive stone (OS) biomass has been investigated. Equilibrium biosorption isotherms in single and binary systems and kinetics in batch mode were also examined. The kinetic data of the two dyes were better described by the pseudo second-order model. At low concentration, ARS dye appeared to follow a two-step diffusion process, while MB dye followed a three-step diffusion process. The biosorption experimental data for ARS and MB dyes were well suited to the Redlich-Peterson isotherm. The maximum biosorption of ARS dye, qmax = 16.10 mg/g, was obtained at pH 3.28 and the maximum biosorption of MB dye, qmax = 13.20 mg/g, was observed at basic pH values. In the binary system, it was indicated that the MB dye diffuses firstly inside the biosorbent particle and occupies the biosorption sites forming a monodentate complex and then the ARS dye enters and can only bind to untaken sites; forms a tridentate complex with OS active sites.

SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF SALINITY ON SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF YOUNG OLIVE TREES OF ARBEQUINA, COBRANÇOSA AND GALEGA VARIETIES

SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF SALINITY ON SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF YOUNG OLIVE TREES OF ARBEQUINA, COBRANÇOSA AND GALEGA VARIETIES Ana Elisa Rato1,4, Renato Coelho1, Margarida Vaz1, Teresa Carola2, Dália Barbosa2, Nádia Silva1, José dos Santos2, Lourenço Machado2, João Godinho2, Luzia Ruas2, Margarida Barradas2, Hernani Pereira2, Sara Porfírio4 1 ICAAM, Universidade de Évora, Apartado 94, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal 2 Master students, Universidade de Évora, Apartado 94, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal 3 Ph.D. student, Universidade de Évora, Apartado 94, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal 4 aerato@uevora.pt Due to the desertification in some regions, the interest in plant’s tolerance to salinity has been increasing, as this response is determining for plant survival in stress conditions. This work reports the investigation of tolerance to salt in two year-old olive trees (Olea europaea L.) of three varieties, Arbequina, Cobrançosa and Galega vulgar. Plants were grown in 10 L plastic pots containing approximately 9 Kg of a sandy granitic soil, on a greenhouse. For 3 months (from the beginning of February to the end of April 2012), they were subjected to three levels of salinity in the irrigation water, 0 mM, 80 mM and 200 mM NaCl (6 plants per salinity level in a total of 18 plants of each variety),. Stomatal conductance (gs) and relative leaf chlorophyll content were assessed on each plant in February, March and April. Mid-day leaf water potential () and soil salinity were measured at the end of the experiment (April). On average, concerning all treatments and dates of determination, stomatal conductance of Arbequina and Galega vulgar was quite similar, around 40 mmol m-2 s-1, but Cobrançosa had a value of gs 36% higher, almost 50% higher (61 mmol m-2 s-1) when compared with the controls (0 mM salt) of the other two varieties. In percentage of controls, there was little difference in gs between varieties and between salinities during February and March. In contrast, in April, after about 90 days of exposure to salt, there was a clear decrease in gs with salt irrigation, proportional to salt concentration. Compared with controls, plants irrigated with 200 mM salt showed around 80% (Arbequina) or 85% (Cobrançosa and Galega vulgar) decrease in gs. Chlorophyll content of leaves showed less than 5% difference between varieties on the average of all treatments and dates of determination. During the course of this experiment, the salinity levels used did not show any relevant effect on chlorophyll content. Overall, at the end of the experimental period (April), leaf water potential () at midday was significantly higher in Cobrançosa (-1,4 MPa) than in Galega vulgar (-1,7 MPa) or Arbequina (-1,8 MPa), and salt decreased  of control plants (-1,25 MPa) by an average 30% (with 80 mM) and 65% (with 200 mM). At the end of the experiment, salinity in the soil irrigated with 0 mM, 80 mM or 200 mM NaCl was, on average of all varieties, 0,2 mS, 1,0 mS or 2,0 mS, respectively. Soil salinity was quite similar in Arbequina and Galega vulgar but about 35% lower in the pots of Cobrançosa, on average of all salt-irrigation levels. Plants of Cobrançosa had higher stomatal conductance, however they showed higher water potential and lower salinity in the soil. These apparently contradictory results seem to suggest that Cobrançosa responds to salt differently from the other two varieties. This issue needs further investigation.

Salinity-induced effects on transpiration rate, stomatal conductance and leaf area of three olive (Olea europaea L.) varieties

Transpiration of two year-old olive trees of three different varieties, Arbequina, Cobrançosa and Galega (18 trees per variety), irrigated with three levels of salt (0, 80 or 200 mM NaCl) for about 90 days, was measured by a gravimetric method. To determine leaf area, each tree was photographed from the side against a white background and the total area of each projected image was determined with ImageJ software. To calibrate these area determinations, one tree of each variety was subsequently stripped of all its leaves and its total leaf area was accurately measured. A correlation was then obtained between the area on the photograph of this particular tree and the total area of the detached leaves of the same tree. Using the leaf area determined by this procedure, transpiration rates of the trees could be calculated. Knowing leaf and air temperatures and RH, it was possible to determine the difference in molar fraction of water between the leaf and the air. Using this and the values of the transpiration rate, stomatal conductance could be calculated (gs calc) and compared with the conductance measured on the same trees with a porometer (gs). Actual leaf area of a plant was 1,40 (Arbequina), 1,42 (Cobrançosa) or 1,24 (Galega) times the area measured with ImageJ on the photograph of the same plant. Leaf area of the trees, on average of all salt irrigations, was significantly higher on Arbequina (0,187 m2) then on the other two varieties (0,138 m2 or 0,148 m2, for Cobrançosa or Galega, respectively), but did not differ significantly in percentage of controls (0 salt). On average of all three varieties, leaf area was also higher on plants irrigated without salt (0,181 m2) than on plants exposed to 80 or 200 mM NaCl (0,152 m2 or 0,140 m2, respectively), which did not differ between them. The same significant difference was observed when leaf area was expressed as percentage of controls. Transpiration rate was significantly higher on Cobrançosa (1,17 mmol m-2 s-1), on average of all treatments, but there were no significant differences between Arbequina (1,08 mmol m-2 s-1) and Galega (0,82 mmol m-2 s-1). In percentage of controls, there were no significant differences between varieties. Salt reduced significantly the transpiration rate in all varieties, both the actual and percentual values, to about 50% or 30% of controls when exposed to 80 mM or 200 mM NaCl, respectively. Stomatal conductance (gs), assessed by porometry, was significantly higher in control plants, mainly in Cobrançosa (102 mmol m-2 s-1), then in Arbequina (77 mmol m-2 s-1) and the lower values were found in Galega (51 mmol m-2 s-1). Salt reduced gs, on average of the three varieties to 30% or 10% of controls on exposure to 80 mM or 200 mM NaCl, respectively. Calculated (gs calc) and measured (gs) values of stomatal conductance showed a close relation between them (0,967, R2 = 0,837) which indicates this non-destructive method to determine whole-plant leaf area to be reasonably accurate.

Response to salinity in young olive trees of three Iberian varieties

Soil salinization is a problem in the Mediterranean region. This paper reports a research on the response to salt in two year-old olive trees (Olea europaea L.) of three Iberian varieties: Arbequina, Cobrançosa and Galega Vulgar. Plants were grown in plastic pots containing approximately 9 Kg of a sandy granitic soil, on a greenhouse at the University of Évora since February 2010. The experiment went from February to April 2012. As a rule, plants were watered every other day alternating salt solution (0 mM, 80 mM or 200 mM NaCl) or tap water. After three months irrigation with the different NaCl solutions, soil electric conductivity and soil water content were significantly higher on salt-irrigated pots. Salt also decreased significantly stomatal conductance (gs) and mid-day leaf water potential (), Cobrançosa having in general higher gs and but lower SLA than the two other varieties. Chlorophyll content of leaves was not affected by salt after this three months exposure to NaCl but was significantly higher on Arbequina and lower on Cobrançosa. In general, hyperspectral reflectance indexes did not show significant correlations with salt irrigation, except for the Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI) which was clearly lower on plants of all three varieties irrigated with salt. Interestingly, Cobrançosa showed frequently vegetation indexes different from the other two varieties.

A Spiking Neural Network Model of the Medial Superior Olive using Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity for Sound Localisation

Sound localization can be defined as the ability to identify the position of an input sound source and is considered a powerful aspect of mammalian perception. For low frequency sounds, i.e., in the range 270 Hz-1.5 KHz, the mammalian auditory pathway achieves this by extracting the Interaural Time Difference between sound signals being received by the left and right ear. This processing is performed in a region of the brain known as the Medial Superior Olive (MSO). This paper presents a Spiking Neural Network (SNN) based model of the MSO. The network model is trained using the Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity learning rule using experimentally observed Head Related Transfer Function data in an adult domestic cat. The results presented demonstrate how the proposed SNN model is able to perform sound localization with an accuracy of 91.82% when an error tolerance of +/-10 degrees is used. For angular resolutions down to 2.5 degrees , it will be demonstrated how software based simulations of the model incur significant computation times. The paper thus also addresses preliminary implementation on a Field Programmable Gate Array based hardware platform to accelerate system performance.

Chromatographic analysis and comparison of chemical composition of the samples between olive oils in Europe and some chinese oils

Dissertação de mest., Qualidade em Análises, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Univ. do Algarve, 2013

Entomofauna associated with the olive tree in southern Portugal

Since 2004 several studies have been carried out in order to identify the main insect species that usually inhabiting the olive ecosystem. The field trials have taken place in two olive groves, one situated in Olhão and the other one in Loulé, both in Algarve and also under Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The sampling techniques used differ according to their purpose (sticky traps, pheromone traps, pitfall traps and samples of aerial parts of the trees such as inflorescences, leaves, fruits and branches). Results showed that the main insect pests of olive tree in southern Portugal were the olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae Gmelin (Diptera: Tephritidae) and the olive moth Prays oleae Bernard (Lepidoptera: Hyponeumetidae). Other insect pests were also found in our olive groves namely the olive psyllid Euphyllura olivina Costa (Homoptera: Psyllidae), the olive dark beetle Phloeotribus scarabaeoides Bernard (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), the mediterranean black scale Saissetia oleae (Olivier) (Homoptera: Coccidae) and the olive thrip Liothripes oleae Costa (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae). Concerning the auxiliary insects that were found in our olives groves they belong to the following orders and families: Diptera (Syrphidae), Coleoptera (Carabidae, Coccinelidae and Staphylinidae), Hemiptera (Anthocoridae and Miridae), Neuroptera (Chrysopidae) and Hymenoptera (Braconidae, Encyrtidae, Eulophidae, Formicidae and Trichogrammatidae).

Socio-economic characterization of olive groves in a region in the south of Portugal

Serpa and Moura region, in the South of Portugal, have important agricultural potential as well as important agricultural resources that can and should be used and developed, in spite of economic and social depression signs reinforced by demographic difficulties that can lead to desertification in some areas. The main farms' Technical-Economic Orientation (TEO) is olives production, to produce olive oil, since this region has excellent conditions for the activity development. Some mobilizations traditionally made in olive groves lead to soil erosion and make the farm vehicles mobility much more difficult, namely those used in cultural operations. The maintenance of a soil cover in the olive grove space between lines is good, both because it favours the vehicles mobility, it promotes the rain water infiltration and, last but not the least, the soil airing. The objective of this work has been to make a socio-economic characterization of a zone of Serpa and Moura Councils in which a project of soil covers under olive trees is being developed. At the same time cultural accounts were made for the different situations under the study - irrigated olive grove with spontaneous vegetation in the space between lines, irrigated olive grove with seeded vegetation in the space between lines, irrigated olive grove with herbicide application in the space between lines, dry olive grove with spontaneous vegetation in the space between lines, dry olive grove with seeded vegetation in the space between lines and dry olive grove with herbicide application in the space between lines. The survey shows farmers in this area are younger then usual, although they don't have a high level of formal education, general or specific in agriculture. Farm areas are usually high, which can be determinant for the proposed technology adoption. Installation and operation costs for the olive grove are higher on the irrigated olive grove, but of course expected productions are also higher. For this production technology profits coming from olives production are higher then the operation costs. However, in the dry olive grove technology costs are always higher then the profits, being profitability only due to subsidies. The importance of soil cover maintenance, in this region, beside the benefits in what concerns erosion, infiltration and soil airing, is also due to its capacity to minimize the risk farmer's face.

Airborne Olive Pollen Counts are not Representative of 1 Exposure to the Major Olive Allergen Ole e 1

Pollen is routinely monitored, but it is unknown whether pollen counts represent allergen exposure. We therefore simultaneously determined olive pollen and Ole e 1 in ambient air in C"ordoba, Spain, and "Evora, Portugal, using Hirst-type traps for pollen and high-volume cascade impactors for allergen. Pollen from different days released 12-fold different amounts of Ole e 1 per pollen (both locations P < 0.001). Average allergen release from pollen (pollen potency) was much higher in C"ordoba (3.9 pg Ole e 1/pollen) than in "Evora (0.8 pg Ole e 1/pollen, P = 0.004). Indeed, yearly olive pollen counts in C"ordoba were 2.4 times higher than in "Evora, but Ole e 1 concentrations were 7.6 times higher. When modeling the origin of the pollen, >40% of Ole e 1 exposure in "Evora was explained by high-potency pollen originating from the south of Spain. Thus, olive pollen can vary substantially in allergen release, even though they are morphologically identical.

Cours de construction. 12, Traité d'hydraulique : alimentation et distribution d'eau, jaugeages, établissements de fontaines publiques / par J. Olive,...

Collection : Encyclopédie théorique & pratique des connaissances civiles & militaires ; partie 1, livre 6