Oleocanthal
The reason why our olive oil burns your throat.
Oleocanthal
This is an antioxidant found only in the extra virgin olive oil. It is a natural phenol, like oleuropein, which helps for pain relief like the ibuprofen but in a natural way and maybe is the solution for the Alzheimer’s disease.
How we can recognise it ? When we taste the extra virgin olive oil we feel the peppery bite or burning sensation at the back of our throat.
Our organic EVOO is very rich on Oleocanthal because it is made from early harvest olives that are still green (unripe). The Oleocanthal concentration increases with fruit growth until the olives begin to turn purple and then begins to decrease. So, we lose from quantity but we gain on quality. That is why the peppery bite on the throat is very strong when we taste our organic EVOO.
Oleocanthal from olive oil is a non-selective inhibitor of cyclooxygenase (COX) similar to classical NSAIDs like ibuprofen. It has been suggested that long-term consumption of small quantities of this compound from olive oil may be responsible in part for the low incidence of heart disease associated with a Mediterranean diet.
Below you can find more details about Oleocanthal:
Professor of Pharmacognsoy and Natural Products Chemistry Dr Prokopios Magiatis (blog) and his team, at the University of Athens, are doing research about the benefits of the quality extra virgin olive oil to our health (click to see a relative article of them).