engleski

Virgin olive oil as functional food

Functional food is fresh or processed foods, which in addition to the usual characteristics of food has more additional features, which have beneficial effects on health, because it improves or prevent certain diseases. The main purpose of functional foods is to providing essential nutrients that promote good health, which has preventive and therapeutic effects confirmed by various scientific research. Dietary supplements are consumed in its natural original form in the normal diet, while food supplements are intaked in tablet, capsule or liquid preparations. Recently, the functional foods are increasingly includes olive oil, thanks to a large number of scientific research and knowledge about the quality of olive oil and its positive health effects on the human organism. Olive oil is the oldest of known oils, as well as one of the healthiest oils. It is the basis of the Mediterranean diet, which many health experts recommend to maintain health. Virgin olive oil (VOO) is easily digested, stimulates the secretion of gastric juice and allows for better absorption of vitamins, especially vitamin E. It has been successfully used in the diet of diabetics. The use of VOO has a positive effect on HDL cholesterol, reduce the serum lipid levels and reduce oxidative stress. Moreover VOO’s biophenols prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. One of the reasons for the positive effect of VOO on the health is well-balanced fatty acid composition. VOO has low content of saturated fat, and it is rich in mono unsaturated oleic acid, and small but sufficient amounts of essential fatty acids. VOO is characterized by the presence of biophenols, which are effective natural antioxidants. Consumed fats in every day diet should represent mono unsaturated fats rich in oleic acid and low in saturated fatty acids and a sufficient amount of essential fatty acids. In this paper we described the chemical composition of VOO, the influence of its individual compounds on human health and the influence of specific chemical compounds or groups of compounds in VOO on sensorial experience.

antioxidants; fatty acids; functional food; health; virgin olive oil

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