How to get olives from tree to table, fast

DEBITTERING OLIVES is a messy process. In their natural state the fruit of the olive tree are loaded with compounds called phenols that make them unpalatable to people. If an olive is destined to be crushed for its oil, the phenols do not matter. Most will be retained in the pulp left over after pressing. Table olives, though, must be purged of their phenols before being eaten.At the moment, this is done by soaking them in water, or brine, or brine followed by a solution of sodium hydroxide known as lye. This liberates the phenols and draws them out by osmosis. For the osmotic process to be effective, though, the bathing liquid needs to be changed frequently. This is tedious, messy and generates phenol-rich waste that is toxic to plants and animals. A better way of cleaning olives would be welcome. And one is now on offer. Rebecca Johnson and Alyson Mitchell of the University of California, Davis, report in the that they can do the job using tiny resin beads.