amurca

{{Short description|Byproduct of olive oil production}}

Amurca is the Latin name for the bitter-tasting, dark-colored, watery sediment that settles out of unfiltered olive oil over time. It has been known in English as "olive oil lees"Sana Janakat et al., "[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282381119_Antimicrobial_activity_of_amurca_olive_oil_lees_extract_against_selected_foodborne_pathogens Antimicrobial activity of amurca (olive oil lees) extract against selected foodborne pathogens]" in Food Science and Technology [Campinas] vol. 35 (2015) pp. 259-265 and recently as "olive mill waste water (OMWW)".Jose Antonio Morillo-Pérez et al., "[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23663394_Bioremediation_and_biovalorisation_of_olive-mill_wastes Bioremediation and biovalorisation of olive-mill wastes]" in Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology vol. 82 (2009) pp. 25-39; Giulia Crouch, "[https://www.theguardian.com/food/article/2024/aug/24/nonna-caterina-was-right-olive-oil-wastewater-heralded-as-new-superfood ‘Nonna Caterina was right’: olive oil wastewater heralded as new superfood]" in The Guardian (24 August 2024) Historically, amurca was used for numerous purposes, as first described by Cato the Elder in De Agri Cultura, and later by Pliny the Elder.{{cite book |title= The Natural History of Pliny: Amurca of Olives – Twenty-one Remedies |last= Pliny|first= John Bostock|author-link= John Bostock (physician)|author2=Henry Thomas Riley|author2-link=Henry Thomas Riley|year= 1856|page= 486}} Cato the Elder mentions its uses as a building material, pesticide, herbicide, dietary supplement for oxen and trees, food preservative, a maintenance product for leather, bronze vessel, and vases, and as a treatment for firewood in order to avoid smoke.{{cite book |last= Hooper |first= William Davis |date= 1934|title= Cato and Varro on Agriculture |url= |location= |publisher= Harvard University Press: Loeb Classical Library. |page= 36, 91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 103, 128, 129, 130|isbn= 9780674993136 |access-date= }}

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