Hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein
DEHydroxytyrosol und Oleuropein
Hydroxytyrosol is the main antioxidant phenol in olive oil and olive leaves. (It is an ortho-diphenolic compound.) In the fruit and the oil, it sits mostly bound inside a bigger molecule, called oleuropein. When you process or digest the olives, that oleuropein breaks down and releases it. Based on a 2011 EFSA opinion, EU Commission Regulation 432/2012 allows a health claim. The claim is that 'olive oil polyphenols contribute to the protection of blood lipids from oxidative stress'. But there is a catch. To use the claim, the food must give you at least 5 mg of the phenol and its relatives per 20 g of olive oil. (Those relatives include the oleuropein complex and tyrosol.) Most of the heart-outcome evidence here comes from the PREDIMED trial, on an olive-oil-rich Mediterranean diet. EFSA has also confirmed the compound as a safe novel food.
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Sources
- EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA). (2011). Scientific opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to polyphenols in olive and protection of LDL particles from oxidative damage (ID 1333, 1638, 1639, 1696, 2865) and others. EFSA Journaldoi:10.2903/j.efsa.2011.2033
- Estruch R, Ros E, Salas-Salvado J, et al. (2018). Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts. New England Journal of Medicinedoi:10.1056/NEJMoa1800389
- Lou-Bonafonte JM, Gabas-Rivera C, Navarro MA, Osada J. (2023). Olive oil polyphenols improve HDL cholesterol and promote maintenance of lipid metabolism: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Molecular Nutrition & Food Researchdoi:10.1002/mnfr.202300357