After decades of epidemiological, clinical and experimental research, it has become clear that consumption of Mediterranean dietary patterns rich in olive oil has a profound influence on health outcomes, including obesity, metabolic syndrome (MetS) and diabetes mellitus. Traditionally, many beneficial properties associated with this oil have been ascribed to its high oleic acid content. Olive o...

Objective To identify adherence to Mediterranean diet among two groups of Spanish adults: diabetic patients and nondiabetic subjects. Methods Adherence to Mediterranean diet was measured by a 14-item screener (scale: 0-14; ≤5: low, 6-9: moderate, and ≥10: high) in 351 volunteers. Results Mean age was 50.97 ± 12.58 in nondiabetics (n = 154) and 59.50 ± 13.34 in diabetics (n = 197). The whole...

Olive, as a fruit, cannot be consumed directly due to the oleuropein substance it contains and needs to be processed into either table olives or olive oil through various production systems. Th e process of olive oil extraction results in olive oil as the main product, and two by-products, with olive pomace being one and brown-coloured Olive Mill Wastewater (OMWW) as the other. OMWW has no dire...

The objective of the research was to highlight the role that socio-economic and spatial attributes of consumers – households exert on their choices regarding not only the supply modes but also the price they are willing to pay for different categories of olive oil. Regarding WTP for different olive oil labels, consumers are willing to pay premiums only for olive oils being processed by either p...

The world productions of olive oil reach 2,800,000 ton and 98% of this production is to be found in the Mediterranean basin, where this agricultural system has been developed for thousands of years, characterized by its adaptation to the environment and its empiricism. Several factors have modified the olive production and processing systems in the last decades. The crisis of traditional agricu...

The operative conditions of malaxation such as temperature and time of exposure of olive pastes to air contact (TEOPAC) affect volatile and phenolic composition of virgin olive oil (VOO) and, as a consequence, its sensory and healthy qualities. In this paper, optimal temperature and TEOPAC during malaxation were studied, in lab scale, in two Italian cultivars using phenolic compounds, volatile ...

BACKGROUND The incidence of ischemic heart disease (IHD) in Crete was lower than expected on the basis of blood lipid concentrations of participants in the Seven Countries Study. A favorable effect of a high intake of olive oil on thrombogenesis may have contributed to this finding. OBJECTIVE We compared the effects of virgin olive oil with those of rapeseed and sunflower oils on blood coagul...

Phenolic composition of virgin olive oil is determined by the enzymatic and/or chemical reactions that take place during olive fruit processing. Of these enzymes, β-glucosidase activity plays a relevant role in the transformation of the phenolic glycosides present in the olive fruit, generating different secoiridoid derivatives. The main goal of the present study was to characterize olive fruit...

BACKGROUND Diet has been reported to influence arterial blood pressure, and evidence indicates that the Mediterranean diet reduces cardiovascular mortality. OBJECTIVE The objective was to examine whether the Mediterranean diet, as an entity, and olive oil, in particular, reduce arterial blood pressure. DESIGN Arterial blood pressure and several sociodemographic, anthropometric, dietary, phy...