Dear Colleagues,

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is the typical source of fats in the Mediterranean diet. EVOO is considered the highest-quality vegetable oil, which also implies a high sensory quality. The organoleptic properties are greatly affected by the incidence of certain factors, both intrinsic (e.g., olive variety) and extrinsic (e.g., growing conditions, oxidation, temperature). While fatty acids are essential for EVOO’s nutraceutical properties, multiple biological activities are also due to the presence of polyphenols, such as phenol alcohols and acids, secoiridoids, lignans and flavones that are being actively investigated for their purported biological and pharma-nutritional properties in diseases with an important pathogenetic contribution of oxidative and peroxidative stress and damage, mainly cancer, autoimmunity, chronic inflammation, neurodegeneration, obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes, atherosclerosis and ageing-related disorders, mediated in part by direct antioxidant actions. In recent years, proteins and peptides have also been described as part of a group of olive oil micronutrients. However, the effects of the composition and functions that peptides and proteins may have on the quality of EVOO and their possible health benefits have been poorly studied.

Olive leaves, the most abundant by-products of the olive and olive oil industry, contain bioactive compounds that are beneficial to human health. The phytochemical profiles and antioxidant capacities of olive leaves are also scarcely studied.

On the other hand, olive tree fruits (olives) have a high nutritional value due to their richness in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs, mainly oleic acid), fiber, and vitamin E, together with the presence of several phytochemicals including hydroxytyrosol (HT). Agronomic factors such as cultivar, ripening stage, and processing method are the main factors influencing the nutritional and non-nutritional composition of olives and their organoleptic properties. There are still few in vitro, in vivo and human studies on the health benefits of olives. It seems that they are mainly related to the antioxidant capacity (AO), anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activities of their bioactive compounds.

This Special Issue aims to review the advances in the knowledge of the biological and pharma-nutritional properties of olive tree products, in particular EVOO, olive fruits, and leaves, in relation to the improvement of oxidative stress, inflammation and immunomodulation.

Dr. Catalina Alarcòn Alarcòn de-la-Lastra
Guest Editor

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• Olea europea L.
• olive
• polyphenols
• oxidative stress
• inflammation
• immunomodulation
• cancer