Dr Rosalía Rodríguez and Dr Marta Pérez, researchers from the UIC Barcelona Department of Basic Sciences, in cooperation with researchers from the Department of Pharmacology, Paediatrics and Radiology of the University of Seville, have published a study confirming that pomace olive oil rich in triterpenic compounds (POCTA), when included in the diet, results in a significant decrease in obesity and vascular and inflammatory complications in obese mice.

 

In addition, given that POCTA has been obtained from a by-product of olive oil, orujo, considered as industrial waste, this study contributes to increasing its biological and nutritional value as a functional food, being its main source of bioactive compounds, the triterpenic acids, such as oleanolic acid.

 

To carry out the research, a ten-week comparison was made in mice with two types of diets, a diet high in saturated fats, regarded as “harmful” fat, and another, with the same calorie intake, but with orujo olive oil. After this time, a significant decrease in weight (about 30%) was observed in POCTA-fed mice compared to the group fed with the high-fat diet. 

 

This study shows for the first time that POCTA not only reduces body weight in obese animals, but also decreases body fat (adipose tissue), liver inflammation and improves insulin resistance and vascular dysfunction associated with obesity.

 

Unlike other types of oils, such as coconut or palm oil, oil obtained from orujo of the olive has been shown to be a source of bioactive molecules with great therapeutic potential against obesity and the metabolic dysfunctions developed with metabolic syndrome. Pomace oil, as well as its triterpenes, has already shown beneficial effects on cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure, according to previous studies by Dr Rosalía Rodríguez, researcher and lecturer at UIC Barcelona. The results of this study “open up a new line of research in investigating the Mediterranean diet and in the therapeutic management of obesity and its complications,” she added.