66 CULTIVAR ANALYSIS AND PROSPECTIVE STUDIES No. 35 Olive groves and olive oil Olive oil, a source of health and wellbeing The Seven Countries Study (Greece, Italy, Yugoslavia, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States), conducted by Ancel Keys, provided important epidemiological evidence of the effects of fats and various fatty acids on serum cholesterol levels. This study, which began in the 1950s, was the first of many that have since demonstrated the benefits of the Mediterranean diet for human health. In Mediterranean countries, where olive oil is the main source of dietary fat, the incidence of chronic diseases and the rate of cardiovascular mortality are among the lowest in the world, whilst life expectancy is among the highest. Furthermore, olive oil has been shown to have numerous medical benefits in the prevention of various diseases: — It prevents carcinogenesis, ageing and cellular oxidation, and protects against damage caused by free radicals. —It prevents atherosclerosis and its associated risks, high blood pressure, heart attacks, kidney failure and strokes. —It reduces total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, and increases HDL cholesterol. —It reduces LDL oxidation; its antithrombotic and antiplatelet effects have been demonstrated, and it is one of the best options for the prevention and management of diabetes mellitus. —It improves the functioning of the digestive and hepatobiliary systems; it has a protective and toning effect on the skin, preventing the appearance of skin lesions and reducing the signs of ageing, for example in the brain. —Epidemiological studies have suggested that olive oil has a protective effect against certain malignant tumours (breast, prostate, endometrial and digestive tract). —It stimulates growth and promotes calcium absorption and bone mineralisation, playing an important role during growth and in the prevention of osteoporosis. And all this is because olive oil is predominantly monounsaturated and a good source of essential fatty acids (linolenic acid, linoleic acid and arachidonic acid, whilst being rich in fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K, antioxidants, tocopherols and polyphenols. How to choose olive oil? But, after all, what ilsiveooil? In nature, olive oil is the energy reserve that olives can draw on the moment they are released from their mother, the olive tree, and must survive on their own until they germinate and send out the roots that will allow them to absorb the nutrients necessary for the growth and development of a new tree. But nature goes even further: once the droplets of olive oil have formed, it endows them with scent and flavour so that wild animals, particularly birds, are attracted to them and can carry the olives – or at least the stones – to distant areas, thereby ensuring the survival and dispersal of the species. Nature also endows olive oils with pigments, which are responsible for their colour, and with vitamins and antioxidants of high biological and nutritional value. It is this olive oil, thus formed by Nature, that humankind, stubbornly and brutally, steals from the olives for its own benefit. Olive oil is, therefore, a natural product, and it is this natural product that is intended for use in food, with all the characteristics and qualities with which Mother Nature has endowed it. Compositioonf oliveoil When everything proceeds normally, olive oil is formed mainly inside the cells of the olive pulp, in tiny droplets. These consist primarily of glycerides, the major components of olive oil, resulting from the esterification of glycerol with fatty acids.
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