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Influence of heat on biological activity and concentration of oleocanthal : a natural anti-inflammatory agent in virgin olive oil

journal contribution
posted on 2009-02-01, 00:00 authored by Sara Cicerale, Xavier ConlanXavier Conlan, Neil BarnettNeil Barnett, Andrew SinclairAndrew Sinclair, Russell KeastRussell Keast
The olive oil phenolic oleocanthal is a natural nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory compound that irritates the oral pharynx in a dose-dependent manner. It has been proposed that the biological activity of oleocanthal is partially responsible for the beneficial health effects of the Mediterranean diet. Virgin
olive oil containing oleocanthal is often added as an ingredient in a number of cooked dishes, and therefore it is of great importance to understand how best to preserve the putative health-promoting benefits of this compound, as olive oil phenolics are subject to degradation upon heating in general. One extra virgin olive oil containing 53.9 mg/kg oleocanthal was heated at various temperatures (100, 170, and 240 °C) for set time periods (0, 1, 5, 20, 60, and 90 min). Oleocanthal concentrations were quantified using HPLC, and its biological activity was determined with a taste bioassay measuring the intensity of throat irritation. Results demonstrated that oleocanthal was heat stable compared with other olive oil phenolics, with a maximum loss of 16% as determined by HPLC analysis. However, there was a significant decrease of up to 31% (p < 0.05) in the biological activity of oleocanthal as determined by the taste bioassay. Although there was minimal degradation of leocanthal concentration, there was a significant decrease in the biological activity of oleocanthal upon extended heating time, indicating a possible loss of the putative health -benefiting properties of oleocanthal. Alternatively, the difference in the concentration and biological activity of oleocanthal after heat treatment could be a result of an oleocanthal antagonist forming, decreasing or masking the biological activity of oleocanthal.

History

Journal

Journal of agricultural and food chemistry

Volume

57

Issue

4

Pagination

1326 - 1330

Publisher

American Chemical Society

Location

Columbus, Oh.

ISSN

0021-8561

eISSN

1520-5118

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2009, American Chemical Society

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