Molecular Sieves

Immobilization of esterase in mesoporous supports applied to the obtention of hydroxytirosol from agricultural waste.

Esterase will be immobilized on mesostructured inorganic supports developed in our group and designed according to the enzyme characteristics. The biocatalysts will be tested in the hydrolysis of oleuropein to obtain hydroxytirosol, a powerful antioxidant of high added value. The project is oriented to the development of a process aiming to upgrade oleuropein from pruning residues of olive trees. This is a multidisciplinary project, involving the areas and techniques of materials chemistry and biochemistry including spectrophotometry, HPLC, XRD among others.