Fatty acid esters with short-chain alcohols in two-phase olive pomace oils

Two-phase decanter olive pomace (TPOP) is the by-product of a centrifugation system, used to produce olive oil, that separates olive oil and moist pomace. The water content in these olive pomaces is about 70%, while it was 45-50% in the olive pomace stemming from three-phase systems (oil, water, and pomace) and 30% in the old press system. The aim of this work is focused on quantification and changes undergone during olive pomace storage in ponds of esters of fatty acids with short-chain linear alcohols, which can be considered as a refining loss. The results indicate that oil deterioration increases very rapidly, in particular when oil is extracted from the TPOP surface. Special attention should be paid to the storage of TPOP, establishing a maximum of 2 months in all cases.