The Oleocanthal International Society (OIS) concluded its third conference in two years. The first took place on the island of Zakynthos, and the second took place in Ubeda, Spain. With 2016 an Olympic year, the OIS held its third conference at the Olympic Academy in the ancient city of Olympia. The who’s who in the world of olive oil research gathered to exchange information and research with more than 400 participants.

Jose Amerigo, the founder of the OIS, spoke about the progress made during the last three years combining health and gastronomic concepts with oleocanthal and other related phenols found in extra virgin olive oil and the Mediterranean diet. The aim of the OIS is to combine practical and clinical research to showcase the potentiality of this functional food.

Dr. Prokopios Magiatis, vice-president of OIS, presented the Olympia Health & Nutrition Awards to distinguish the oils with high content of phenolic compounds. This is a unique olive oil competition that relies mainly on the amount of specific health protecting phenols. It is the most verifiable and objective competition in the world. “We hope this becomes a regular event and we meet here at Olympia again to reveal the healthiest olive oils in the world.”

Dan Flynn from the UC Davis Olive Center gave a rousing speech on the need for more imaginative marketing of oleocanthal-rich olive oil in order to capture a section of the lucrative functional food market in the USA, which is the world’s leading market in this area.

Prof. Eric Tangalos from the Mayo Clinic explained the rise of Alzheimer’s and its impact on patients and their families. Early detection is vital for the management of this disease, with preventative measures including an active lifestyle and proper nutrition, such as olive oil, along with development of new drug therapies.   

John William Newman, PhD, a research chemist with the US Dept. of Agriculture at the Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, California, described the clinical research conducted on the effect of oleocanthal rich olive oil on blood platelet aggregation. The results suggest that oleocanthal rich olive oil has an effect on blood platelet aggregation similar to ibuprofen in certain individuals.

Dr. Eleni Melliou revealed the discovery of a new olive tree varietal near and around Olympia. This varietal, including trees more than 1500 years old, was neglected and unnamed. Melliou proposed the name of cultivar Olympia for this olive tree, because of the location where it was discovered. An interesting fact about this olive tree is that it produces olive oil with extremely high phenolic content.

Dr. Ramon Estruch explained the results of the PREDIMED study, which clearly show that a diet rich in the mostly unsaturated fat derived from olive oil is better for cardiovascular health than a lower-fat diet, even in older persons at high risk of cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Stefanos Kales from Harvard Medical School described an ongoing study of 1000 firemen who will follow the Mediterranean diet, including selected olive oils.

Prof. Amal Kaddoumi from the University of Louisiana at Monroe described the results of her research on the effect of high oleocanthal olive oil on Alzheimer’s disease. “Results of our studies support the beneficial and protective effect of EVOO against Alzheimer’s disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy.”

Dr. Mary Flynn, associate professor of Medicine at Brown University, itemized the benefits of a plant-based olive oil rich diet. In her talk “Let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food,” Dr. Flynn expressed her opinion that perhaps olive oil is more of a medicine than a food.

Dr. Bouaziz Mohamed explained how Tunisia has developed their olive oil production based on its added value and health benefits, with modern farming and traditional methods co-existing harmoniously.

Ongoing research at the University of Athens was highlighted in numerous presentations. The stability of high phenolic olive oils under different storage conditions was discussed by Annia Tsolakou; the optimization of the Aristoleo test and comparison with Folin and NMR methods was explained by Iliana Kalaboki, and the impact of malaxation time and temperature on the oleocanthal content of olive oil was described by Panagiotis Diamantakos. Also, the first clinical trial of Kalamata table olives and their positive impact on the LDL/HDL ratio was presented by Dr. Martha-Spyridoula Katsarou.

In addition, Feliciano Priego from the University of Cordoba demonstrated a new method for LC-MS/MS measurement of oleocanthal that was also employed in the first ongoing bioavailability study of oleocanthal performed by Prof. Li Li Ji at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Lagouri presented a new method for online monitoring of olive oil quality. Lectures were also given by Konstantinos and Apostolos Kyritsakis, Prof. Athanasios Gertsis from the American Farm School, and Prof. Demopoulos from the TEI of Peloponnese. 

In this Olympic year, the Oleocanthal International Society decided to award the olive oils that contain the highest phenolic content (such as oleocanthal), as well as recognizing especially innovative olive mills, people and companies that promote research and development, and those that create gastronomic recipes using these high oleocanthal olive oils.

The highest oleocanthal olive oil, with 966 mg per kg, was The Governor, produced by the Dafnis family from Lianolia olives. The highest in total phenolics was Drop of Life, with 3076 mg per kg, produced by the Mathiopoulos family and derived from the newly discovered Olympia olive variety. A total of 565 samples were submitted to the competition by 325 producers from Greece, Spain, Italy, USA, Cyprus, Morocco and Uruguay.

The OIS conference was co-organized by the Region of Western Greece with the support of the ancient city of Olympia and the International Olympic Academy, as well as many sponsors from the olive oil industry in Greece. Dr. Magiatis remarked, “I am overwhelmed by the amount of economic support given by the Greek olive growers themselves, especially during this difficult economic time. A big thank you to all our sponsors and supporters, who made this event possible.”