Functional food of the future?
new studies surface that highlight the beneficial effect of
antioxidants on our health. Good news for the health professional
and the food scientists arrived recently when a team of European
scientists claimed to have developed an economically feasible
process to recover polyphenolic antioxidants from olive oil
production waste.
Each year the popularity of polyphenolic antioxidants gains pace as new studies surface that highlight the beneficial effect of antioxidants on our health. Good news for the health professional and the food scientists arrived recently when a team of European scientists claimed to have developed an economically feasible process to recover polyphenolic antioxidants from olive oil production waste.
In the olive mill, the olive paste is traditionally washed with water, which removes a large amount of the soluble compounds. Among others, the amphiphilic phenolic compounds, monohydroxyphenols and o-dihydroxyphenols (catechols), are extracted, while the esterfied phenols, ligstroside and oleuropein stay in the oil phase.
Catechols, also present in tea and other vegetable products, are well-known antioxidants that protect foods from oxidation. They are also challenging biological antioxidants that protect against oxidative degradation in living cells.
According to European-funded research carried out by a group of scientists at Milan University, Italy, the catechols can be industrially isolated from the wash water, by acidification, enzymatic pectin degradation and absorption on sorbent resins. Finally, the catechols are desorped: 10-20 per cent of the total phenols are recovered in the process and the main catechol present is hydroxyl-tyrosol.
The researchers analysed the biological antioxidant effects of the olive phenols through in vitro, rat and human studies. In vitro, the phenols inhibited LDL oxidation, leukocyte activation, superoxide anion production, and the enzyme glutathione-S-transferase. In vivo studies showed a dose-dependent absorption both in rats and in humans, an enhanced total antioxidant activity in the plasma and significant interactions with cellular enzymes.
The scientists write that although further studies are required, the water-soluble olive oil polyphenols might be a good candidate as a functional food ingredient in the future, potentially influencing the development of cardiovascular disease, cancer and inflammatory reactions.
For further information about the study contact the project leader, Prof. Claudio Galli (pynhqvb.tnyyv@havzv.vg),Università degli Studi di Milano, Instituto di Scienze Farmacologiche, Via Balzarett 9, 20133 Milano, Italy.
