Obtaining Phenol Compounds from Agroindustrial Remains

GÓMEZ, PATRICIA; BRAVO, MARÍA; SALIM ROSALES, CLAUDIA; GÓMEZ, ELIZABETH; RIVOTTA, PABLO

Buenos Aires

Conferencia; VI International Conference on Polyphenols and Health; 2013

School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires, Institute of Mo lecular Biochemistry and Medicine, UBA - CONICET

Several research works highlight the importance of maintaining balance between free radicals and endogenous and exogenous antioxidants in a healthy organism. It is also well-known the existing suspicion of the carcinogenic effect of synthetic antioxidants, being the benefits of natural antioxidants enhanced. Due to this reason, nowadays, there is a great interest in searching new sources of biological substances with antioxidant activity.   Polyphenol compounds are antioxidants constituting a kind of secondary metabolites biosynthesized by the plant kingdom. The olive tree, as many other plants, increases polyphenols production as a response to environmental factors translated as stress for tissues.   From 1990, there was an expansion of modern olive growing in the country and Catamarca became the main olive oil producer, generating, in consequence, a great amount of agroindustrial remains. These have high phenol content as well as an excellent antiradical activity, so they may become a natural and completely renewable raw material for phenol compounds. These facts would result in competitive advantages for the sector, health improvement and environmental protection. This paper aims at disseminating the results obtained in so far so as to enhance olive industry byproducts for its potential use in the scope of health.