In vivo evidences of the health-promoting properties of bioactive compounds obtained from olive by-products and their use as food ingredient

Abstract

Olea europaea L. is the source of virgin olive oil (VOO). During its extraction, a high amount of by-products (pomace, mill wastewaters, leaves, stones, and seeds) is originated, which possess an environmental problem. If the generation of waste cannot be prevented, its economic value must be recovered and its effects on the environment and climate change must be avoided or minimized. The bioactive compounds (e.g., phenols, pectins, peptides) of these by-product fractions are being investigated as nutraceutical due to the beneficial properties it might have. In this review, the aim is to summarize the in vivo studies carried out in animals and humans with bioactive compounds exclusively obtained from olive by-products, aiming to demonstrate the potential health benefits these products can exert, as well as to describe its use in the food industry as bioactive ingredient. Several food matrices have been fortified with olive by-products fractions, leading to an improvement of properties. Animal and human studies suggest the benefits of ingesting olive-derived products to promote health. However, the investigation until now is scarce and consequently, well-designed human studies are required in order to fully address and confirm the safety and health-promoting properties of olive oil by-products.

Keywords:

• By-products
• bioeconomy
• circular food
• olive oil
• immunonutrition

Acknowledgments

Maria C. Millan-Linares acknowledges the financial grant US-1381492 supported by Andalusian Plan for Research, Development, and Innovation 2020 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Africa Fernandez-Prior has the benefit of a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral fellowship (FJC2021-047485-I) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Fernando Rivero-Pino acknowledges his postdoctoral contract supported by TED2021-130521A-I00.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the TED2021-130521A-I00 research project (Ministry of Science and Innovation, Government of Spain) into the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan funding by NextGenerationEU.