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Where do olive oil and livestock meet? An innovative project using agricultural waste takes its first steps
Latitud (Foundation of the Laboratorio Tecnológico del Uruguay —LATU— oriented to the planning and implementation of research, development and innovation —R&D—) and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of the Republic are advancing on their project “Valorization of Olive Pomace for Cattle Feed”, which was showcased at the Conexionar Agro event organized by the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII).
This initiative, set to run until January 2027, aims to transform a byproduct of the olive oil industry into a high-nutritional-value resource for livestock, which would otherwise be waste. This effort promotes the circular economy and environmental sustainability.
Olive pomace, derived from the olive oil extraction process, poses a significant environmental challenge for Uruguayan olive mills. In 2023, approximately 14,000 tons of this residue, composed of pulp, skin, pits, and water, were generated. Its high organic matter and polyphenol content make it difficult to manage and a source of considerable environmental impact.
The work is being carried out with the support of ANII, the National Agricultural Research Institute (INIA), and the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture, and Fisheries (MGAP), through the Innovagro sectoral fund.
In July 2025, ANII organized Conexionar Agro, an exchange day where the progress of this circular economy proposal was presented alongside others funded by Innovagro. MSc. Fabiana Rey, a Latitud researcher and scientific lead of the project, was in charge of the presentation.
A multidisciplinary approach to a complex problem
The project boasts a multidisciplinary team of professionals from Latitud and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of the Republic. This team contributes their knowledge and experience in animal nutrition, with a focus on bovines. Veterinarians, agricultural and industrial engineers, as well as specialists in other fields, collaborate to address this challenge from multiple perspectives.
The collaboration between institutions has also been crucial in terms of infrastructure. Latitud's laboratory capabilities and pilot plants, as well as the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine's experimental field and laboratories, are being utilized for the research and scaling of the process. Activities include in vitro and in situ trials to evaluate digestibility and behavior in the animals' rumen.
Innovation with fungi for quality feed
The key to this project lies in the application of solid-state fermentation using Pleurotus pulmonarius, Lentinula edodes (Shiitake), and Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi) fungi. These fungi are capable of transforming olive pomace, improving its nutritional properties, such as protein content, and decreasing the concentration of polyphenols. The latter is crucial as it reduces the undesirable palatability of olive pomace for animals and improves its digestibility.
Rey emphasized that "the idea is to transform a residue that is currently left in the field and add value to it, and for that value to be applied in bovine feed." In this sense, the goal is not to produce fungi, but rather for the mycelium to develop on the olive pomace and transform it, improving its nutritional properties and decreasing its polyphenol content, making it a more palatable and nutritious feed for livestock.
Benefits for Industry and the Environment
From this process, the initiative by Latitud and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine projects multiple benefits:
- For the olive oil industry: It adds value to its main byproduct, offering a sustainable solution for its management and mitigating environmental impact. The project aims for the findings to be transferred to the industry, allowing it to incorporate them into its production process at a low cost.
- For bovine livestock farming: It provides an alternative and low-cost protein source that can replace traditional sources, reducing feeding costs and potentially improving meat and milk quality, something that could be explored in the future. Additionally, the use of fungi can strengthen animal health and decrease methane emissions.
- For the environment: It promotes the circular bioeconomy, maximizing resource utilization and minimizing waste generation.
Next steps and collaboration opportunities
Currently, the project is in the process scaling phase, including pasteurization and pilot-scale fermentation. Rigorous experimental evaluations are being conducted to validate the hypotheses, and the team hopes to conduct studies on milk and meat-producing animals in the future to assess the impact on final product quality and animal health.
Latitud — LATU Foundation, in its commitment to the country's sustainable development, fosters network collaboration with other institutions, companies, and institutes. Rey highlighted that the project's driving organizations have received support from the Uruguayan Olive Growers Association (ASOLUR) and valued the work of the LATU Uruguay program, which has representatives in different regions of the country and has made it possible to identify the needs of producers and companies throughout the territory, facilitating the approach to ASOLUR and the development of initiatives like this.
This innovative project demonstrates how research and development can transform challenges into opportunities, contributing to a more sustainable future for Uruguay.
