Fighting cholesterol with olive oil waste water During the milling process, some of the olive's natural antioxidants perish in the waste water. Pioneering research has uncovered a way to retrieve these highly valuable substances from the waste stream. Health © Shutterstock Mediterranean cuisine has gained popularity as society has become increasingly health conscious. The merits of olive oil, an essential component of the Mediterranean diet, are well known. This led a group of universities to investigate the potential health benefits of waste water derived from olive oil mills, known as OMW. Supported by the INCO 2 Programme, the NEWTECHOMW consortium sought to isolate natural antioxidants that accumulate in OMW during the milling process. Biotechnologists from Tunisia performed multiple laboratory experiments which culminated in the definition of an effective solvent-based procedure for the extraction of hydroxytyrosol and other phenolic compounds. Yields on the order of 85% are possible and the process can easily be expanded to large-scale production. Sensitivity analysis of a number of different storage and other parameters revealed increased output when the OMW is stored in cool, low light conditions. Tests of the antioxidising power of the recovered compounds indicated superior performance characteristics for hydroxytyrosol and 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl acetic acid. Finally, the NEWTECHOMW partners gauged the capacity of hydroxytyrosol and OMW to fight cholesterol in rats sustained on a high-fat diet. The results were encouraging as several key indicators, such as serum total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), showed significant improvement. It is hoped that this research will provide insight into the mechanisms through which hydroxytyrosol and its phenolic relatives reduce cholesterol.
