New Institute for Olive Science and Health.

Today we echo a recent new that we really celebrate.

The University of Yale has embarked on an initiative aimed at founding an Institute of Olive Science and Health. This Institute will be dedicated to the scientific study of the olive tree, its products and its derivatives, and the way to further integrate its fruit and its products into people’s diets. It will also focus on planetary health issues, including sustainability, circular economy models and climate change. The institute is expected to serve as a global center facilitating research in all areas related to the olive tree and its products.

Genosa is working since more than 20 years in obtaining value added from olive products. So far olive oil is the largest product derived from olives, but in a very near future there could be some other olive products that would have a real leadership.

Compounds like polyphenols can be found in the entire fruit and tree. These compounds have demonstrated enormous benefits for human health and can be obtained from different olive sources.

Genosa is producing olive fruit extracts standaridized in polyphenols like hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol since many years ago. These extracts are incorporated in many dietary supplements and functional foods in many countries.

In fact, the European Commission after the Panel of Experts of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) included olive oil polyphenols in the new health claims regulation. “Olive oil polyphenols contribute to the protection of blood lipids from oxidative stress”. There is a big body of evidence about the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of olive polyphenols.

Laura Di Renzo, director of the School of Specialization in Dietetic Sciences at the University of Rome Tor Vergata focused attention on the role of high-quality extra virgin olive oils in the prevention of non-communicable chronic degenerative diseases and the health benefits of a sustainable Mediterranean Diet.

These diseases include obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic respiratory disease, and many types of cancer.

High-quality extra virgin olive oils are those which contain high levels of olive polyphenols.

“Healthy and personalized nutrition, bioactive molecules and the microbiota play an important role in the prevention and management of these diseases,” said Di Renzo, who underlined the role of the sustainable Mediterranean Diet in the prevention and treatment of these diseases, including the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of EVOO.

Di Renzo formulated a new acronym: “the P4 components (Pre/Pro/Post-biotic and polyphenols of EVOO), as functional nutrients for well-being and beauty”.