Οlive tree blossom polyphenolic extracts exert antioxidant and antimutagenic activities in vitro and in various cell lines.

Abstract

Olive oil has held a prominent place in the Mediterranean diet since ancient times due to its beneficial effects on human health thus, becoming the subject of great scientific interest. Although numerous studies have examined the biological action of olive and olive oil extracts, the literature lacks studies investigating the putative antioxidant capacity of olive tree flower extracts. Given that olive tree flowers are actually by-products of the olive oil production process with high waste burden for the environment, it becomes evident that their exploitation could increase their added value. Therefore, in this study the potential antioxidant action of four olive flower extracts was investigated. All the extracts exerted potent antioxidant activity as indicated using the DPPH• and ABTS•+ assays, as well as antigenotoxic and antimutagenic properties, identified by the results of the plasmid relaxation assay and the Ames test, respectively. Furthermore, the extracts also improved redox status of four cell lines (i.e., EA.hy926, C2C12, HeLa, and HepG2) enhancing reduced glutathione and reducing reactive oxygen species levels using flow cytometry. Taking into account that during olive tree cultivation a considerable amount of olive flowers is generated, the waste burden is high and the management is difficult. Given the optimistic findings of the present study, we believe that the flower-derived extracts may have high added value since they could be used as antioxidants or as foodstuff, food additives and functional food constituents.