The Nutraceutical Value of Olive Oil and Its Bioactive Constituents on the Cardiovascular System. Focusing on Main Strategies to Slow Down Its Quality Decay during Production and Storage

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases represent the principal cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is well-known that oxidative stress and inflammatory processes are strongly implicated in their pathogenesis; therefore, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agents can represent effective tools. In recent years a large number of scientific reports have pointed out the nutraceutical and nutritional value of extra virgin olive oils (EVOO), strongholds of the Mediterranean diet, endowed with a high nutritional quality and defined as functional foods. In regard to EVOO, it is a food composed of a major saponifiable fraction, represented by oleic acid, and a minor unsaponifiable fraction, including a high number of vitamins, polyphenols, and squalene. Several reports suggest that the beneficial effects of EVOO are linked to the minor components, but recently, further studies have shed light on the health effects of the fatty fraction and the other constituents of the unsaponifiable fraction. In the first part of this review, an analysis of the clinical and preclinical evidence of the cardiovascular beneficial effects of each constituent is carried out. The second part of this review is dedicated to the main operating conditions during production and/or storage that can directly influence the shelf life of olive oil in terms of both nutraceutical properties and sensory quality.

Development of Fortified Citrus Olive Oils: From Their Production to Their Nutraceutical Properties on the Cardiovascular System

“…According to the literature, a supplementation with EVOO contributes to ameliorating these parameters [71]; indeed, in our experimental conditions, CEVOO reduced plasma lipid levels in HFD-fed rats. The Citrus olive oils showed a similar profile on cardio-metabolic parameters and a more evident containment of the body weight gain (Table 8 and Figure 3).…”

“…Indeed, the vascular wall represents the first front between the absorbed nutrients and the tissues of the body, and failure of this system results in many cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and tissue ischemia [61]. Excessive amounts of reactive oxygen species, known to exert a number of adverse effects on vessel function, may irreversibly inactivate protein kinases and/or phosphatases in the vascular wall affecting the barrier function of vessels [70][71][72]. Similarly, inflammation and the increase of inflammatory mediators in the blood vessel wall lead to the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases [73].…”

Metabolomic Study to Evaluate the Transformations of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil’s Antioxidant Phytochemicals during In Vitro Gastrointestinal Digestion

“…EVOO has been widely studied because of its effects in preventing several metabolic diseases and pathologies, such as atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, serum lipoprotein levels, oxidative stress, obesity, type 2 diabetes, inflammation and cancer [1][2][3][4][5]. Overall, the health-promoting effects of EVOO are mainly related to its inherent chemical composition, such as the fatty acid profile [6] rather than other "minor" components (nearly 2% of the total weight).…”

A Mixture of Algae and Extra Virgin Olive Oils Attenuates the Cardiometabolic Alterations Associated with Aging in Male Wistar Rats

“…However, the beneficial cardiometabolic effects of olive oil are also due to other minority compounds (about 2% of total) within the non-saponifiable fraction, such as squalene, polyphenols (mainly tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol, and derivatives) and vitamins (α, β, γ and δ tocopherols) [ 29 , 30 ]. These compounds improve the lipid profile and reduce the attachment of cell adhesion molecules in early atherogenesis and are reported to exert antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic and anti-obesity effects among others [ 29 ].…”