Olive oil is the oil that comes from the fruit of the olive tree (Olea europea). Virgin olive oil is produced by mechanical processing of the olive fruit in olive mills. It is a key element of the Mediterranean diet and is considered a healthy food product due to its content of monounsaturated fats, antioxidants, etc.
Physical and chemical characteristics
Crude virgin olive oil is a mixture of various ingredients. These can be distinguished into three categories: Glycerides, fat-soluble substances and water-soluble substances. They can also be distinguished into saponifiable and non-saponifiable components. Glycerides, which are also saponifiable components, are mainly triglycerides, i.e. esters of glycerol with fatty acids. The latter are mainly: oleic, palmitoleic, linoleic, stearic and palmitic. The first three are unsaturated fatty acids, and the other two are saturated
Historical data
In the Greek area, presses for the production of oil from olives and containers (jars) for oil storage dating from the Mycenaean era have been found. According to the excavations carried out in the Proto-Cycladic II (2,700-2,300 BC) cemetery of Spedos in 1903 by Klonos Stefanos, among the other finds, he mentions a silver-plated clay vessel which contained traces of spoiled olive oil. The careful research in the chemistry of the National University under Professor K. Zengeli proved, beyond doubt, the existence of olive oil. Klonos Stefanos (in the Proceedings of the Archaeological Society PAE 1906) notes that together with the silver-plated clay vessel, a triple clay oil lamp was found. Olive oil is referred to on a Linear B tablet from Knossos as erawo (oil) and on others with a special ideogram.
Olive oil and health
Olive oil contains high levels of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) as well as an abundance of bioactive components. Of these, the phenolic components are the most extensively studied. Regarding the benefits of MUFAs in human health, the US Food and Drink Administration authorized qualitative health claims (health claims), for the first time in 2004, regarding the protection offered by monounsaturated fatty acids of olive oil against cardiovascular risk diseases. Overall, the benefits of olive oil fatty acids were summarized at the first International Conference on Olive Oil and Health, in 2005. But olive oil is more than a rich source of monounsaturated fatty acids. Its phenolic components have shown anti-inflammatory and chemo-protective properties. Oleocanthal in olive oil has been found to have a similar effect to the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen. In none of the studies in which the role of phenolic components of olive oil has been examined, cytotoxicity has been shown.
