LAUSR

Abstract Recently, the potential use as fertilizer of some wastewaters from table olive factories has been reported but the cause of this activity has not been disclosed up to now. In this study, a huge number of table olive waste solutions were analyzed from three consecutive seasons. Sugars, phenolic and mineral compounds were the main chemical groups identified. The individual effect of these components was tested on the growth of tomato plants and the quality of their fruits. Two factorial designs were assayed (24 and 23), in which the individual groups of chemical substances were sugars, minerals (nitrogen, potassium and phosphor), simple and polymeric phenols. Also, fresh wash water from Spanish-style green table olive processing was tested. The main conclusion was that no one individual group caused the fertilizer activity but a synergetic action of all of them was efficient and the fresh waste solution tested was the most effective.