Optimization of the Conditioning and Drying Stages of Table Olive By-Products to Obtain New Powdered Ingredients

The discards from table olive production, mainly defective or out-of-size olives, have the potential to be considered an excellent source of bioactive compounds; however, their high salt content may restrict their use. This work aims to obtain new powdered ingredients derived from table olives by-products. The discards were subjected to a conditioning process comprising washing and pressing stages to reduce the salt and moisture contents. The resulting olive paste was convective-dried at 70 °C up to constant weight. The thin-layer modelling was assessed to explain the drying kinetics. The findings showed up to a 75% salt content reduction with the washing stage in the conditioning. Considering all the conditioning combinations, the drying process of the table olive discards was completed in 5 h.