Abstract
Virgin olive oil (VOO) is credited as being one of the many healthful components associated with the Mediterranean diet. Mediterranean populations experience reduced incidence of chronic inflammatory disease states and VOO is readily consumed as part of an everyday Mediterranean dietary pattern. VOO is rich in phenolic compounds and the health promoting benefits of these phenolics are now established. Recent studies have highlighted the biological properties of VOO phenolic compounds elucidating their anti-inflammatory activities. This paper will review current knowledge on the anti-inflammatory and nutrigenomic, chemoprotective and anti-atherosclerotic activities of VOO phenolics. In addition the concentration, metabolism and bioavailability of specific phenolic compounds will be discussed. The evidence presented in the review concludes that oleurepein, hydroxytyrosol and oleocanthal have potent pharmacological activities in vitro and in vivo; however, intervention studies with biologically relevant concentrations of these phenolic compounds are required.
Highlights
The health promoting attributes associated with following a traditional Mediterranean diet have been reviewed extensively
This review discusses the modes of action through which Virgin olive oil (VOO) phenolic compounds may exert their health protective effects, together with information on the concentrations in which they are found in VOO, their degree of bioavailability and metabolism
Drira and colleagues reported that both hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein at concentrations of 100 and 150 μM and 200 and 300 μM respectively, inhibit adipocyte differentiation by downregulation of adipogenesis-related genes PPARγ, C/EBPα and SREBP-1c transcription factors and downstream genes (GLUT4, CD36 and FASN) meaning that VOO phenolics may reduce the size of fat cells and be of benefit in reducing the risk of obesity [66]
Summary
The health promoting attributes associated with following a traditional Mediterranean diet have been reviewed extensively. Nutrition research has focused on populations residing along the Mediterranean Sea to uncover key nutrients and dietary patterns that may be associated with reported superior health status. Since the early Seven Countries Study, several other studies have supported the view that this pattern of eating is associated with a reduced incidence of inflammatory disease states [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17]. A search for relevant literature published in English was conducted via PubMed. Relevant research articles were identified using the following key words: olive oil phenolics, hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein, oleocanthal and health benefits, inflammation, inflammatory disease, cancer, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, bioavailability.
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