Antioxidant and Other Biological Activities of Olive Mill Waste Waters

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 47; no. 8; pp. 3397 - 3401
• Main Authors: Visioli, Francesco, Romani, Annalisa, Mulinacci, Nadia, Zarini, Simona, Conte, Davide, Vincieri, Franco F, Galli, Claudio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.08.1999
• Subjects: analysis; antioxidants; Antioxidants - analysis; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; biosynthesis; blood; drug effects; extraction; extracts; Food Handling; Food industries; Free Radical Scavengers; Free Radical Scavengers - analysis; Free Radical Scavengers - pharmacology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General pharmacology; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; industrial effluents; Leukotriene B4; Leukotriene B4 - biosynthesis; Lipoproteins, LDL; Lipoproteins, LDL - blood; Lipoproteins, LDL - drug effects; Medical sciences; medicinal properties; Neutrophils; Neutrophils - drug effects; Neutrophils - physiology; Olive Oil; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; pharmacology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; phenolic compounds; Phenols; Phenols - analysis; Phenols - pharmacology; physiology; Plant Oils; Superoxides; Use and upgrading of agricultural and food by-products. Biotechnology; Waste Management; wastewater; Biochemical analysis; Leukotriene B4; Industrial waste water; Upgrading; Food industry; Phenols; Olive oil; Antioxidant; Experimental study; Radical scavenger; Biological activity
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/jf9900534

During olive oil production, large volumes of water are generated and subsequently discarded. Olives contain a variety of bioactive components, and some of them, according to their partition coefficients, end up in the water phase. The current investigation aimed at comparing different methods for the extraction of biologically active components of the olive mill waste waters (OMWW) and evaluating the in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the resulting extracts. The results indicate that OMWW extracts are able to inhibit human LDL oxidation (a process involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis) and to scavenge superoxide anions and hypochlorous acid at concentrations as low as 20 ppm. Finally, two of the three extracts also inhibited the production of leukotrienes by human neutrophils. The potency of the extracts depended on their degree of refinement:  extracts containing only low molecular weight phenols were the most effective. Keywords: Antioxidants; waste water; olive oil; free radicals; polyphenols