A holistic approach to sustainable use of Greek medicinal and aromatic plants for the production of innovative bioactive food and feed products

Olive oil is one of the most important Mediterranean diet component, well known for its benefits in human health. It has been demonstrated that olive oil’s aromatization process is a promising alternative to increase shelf life, introduce new products to the food industry, and offer consumers new prospects [1]. At the same time, the process of aromatization of olive oil with Medicinal & Aromatic Plants (MAPs), results to the production of a significant amount of plant by-products. The aim of this study was the evaluation of the aromatized olive oils and the production of innovative products for animal nutrition.

Initially, Origanum vulgare, Thymus vulgare, Salvia officinalis and Rosmarinus officinalis were extracted with olive oil by microwave technique and analyzed by Head Space Microextraction and GC-MS. Afterwards, in order to evaluate the by-products, the plant material remaining after the extraction with olive oil of the superior and inferior quality of O. vulgare and T. vulgare, was studied. Specifically, the hydroalcoholic extracts were evaluated for their antioxidant activity and total phenolic content and were chemically screened by means of HPTLC.

According to the results, MAPs’ by-products revealed similar chemical profile to the crude herbal material as well as strong antioxidant capacity, which is related to the detected high phenolic content, indicating their usefulness for animal nutrition. Moreover, GC-MS analyses of the aromatized olive oils by MAPs, revealed the presence of their essential oil’s major compounds (carvacrol, thymol, γ -terpinene and p -cymene), underlying the high added-value of the enriched aromatic olive oils.

Publication History

Article published online:
13 December 2021

• References

• 1 Fagudes et al., Food Res. Int. 2020 137, 109593.