Have you ever tasted a fresh extra virgin olive oil and felt a distinctive peppery sensation—or even a little cough—in the back of your throat?
There's chemistry behind that sensation.
And an observation made while tasting extra virgin olive oil in Sicily eventually led researchers to identify a naturally occurring compound in EVOO that has become an important subject of inflammation research.
That compound is oleocanthal.
A Peppery Sensation Leads to a Discovery
Gary Beauchamp, PhD, of the Monell Chemical Senses Center was tasting freshly pressed extra virgin olive oil in Sicily when something caught his attention.
The peppery irritation he experienced in the back of his throat reminded him of a sensation he had encountered while working with liquid forms of the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen.
That similarity led researchers to ask an interesting question:
Could something in extra virgin olive oil produce a similar biological effect?
Their investigation eventually led to oleocanthal.
What Is Oleocanthal?
Oleocanthal is one of the naturally occurring phenolic compounds found in extra virgin olive oil.
It's also associated with that distinctive throat-catching pungency found in some fresh EVOOs.
Researchers discovered that oleocanthal inhibits the activity of two enzymes known as COX-1 and COX-2.
These enzymes are involved in the body's inflammatory response.
That was particularly interesting because nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen also work in part by inhibiting COX enzymes.
Does That Mean EVOO Is Natural Ibuprofen?
No.
This is where an interesting scientific discovery sometimes gets turned into a misleading health claim.
The original research compared the biological activity of oleocanthal with ibuprofen under laboratory conditions. Researchers estimated that the oleocanthal consumed through a traditional Mediterranean level of EVOO intake could provide relatively mild COX-inhibiting activity.
That doesn't mean drinking a certain amount of olive oil is equivalent to taking an ibuprofen tablet.
And extra virgin olive oil should not be used as a substitute for medication.
What the discovery demonstrated was something much more interesting scientifically:
A naturally occurring compound in EVOO acts on some of the same inflammatory pathways targeted by a well-known class of anti-inflammatory medications.
What Does This Have to Do With Arthritis?
Inflammation plays an important role in arthritis, which is one reason oleocanthal has attracted attention from arthritis researchers.
Subsequent laboratory and animal studies have investigated whether oleocanthal may influence inflammatory pathways involved in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Researchers have reported effects on inflammatory signaling and other biological processes associated with joint inflammation.
However, laboratory findings aren't the same as demonstrating that EVOO or oleocanthal treats arthritis in people.
Human clinical research is still needed to determine what role, if any, oleocanthal itself might eventually have in arthritis prevention or treatment.
That Peppery Throat Sensation Actually Tells Us Something
One of the most interesting parts of the original discovery is the connection between oleocanthal and sensory perception.
That familiar peppery sensation in the back of the throat isn't necessarily a flaw in an olive oil.
Quite the opposite.
Pungency is considered a positive sensory characteristic of extra virgin olive oil.
Fresh EVOOs can range from relatively mild to intensely bitter and peppery depending on olive variety, harvest timing and chemistry.
The intensity of that sensation can also provide clues about some of the phenolic compounds present in the oil.
So when an EVOO makes you cough a little, there's chemistry behind the experience.
Oleocanthal Is Only One Part of EVOO
Oleocanthal is fascinating, but it shouldn't become another single number or compound used to define whether an olive oil is “healthy.”
Extra virgin olive oil contains numerous naturally occurring phenolic compounds.
When we look at the Biophenol value of an EVOO, we're looking at a broader measurement of these naturally occurring compounds rather than oleocanthal alone.
And biophenols are only one part of the chemistry.
Oleic Acid, FFA, Peroxide Value, DAGs and PPP provide additional information that helps us understand an oil's composition, freshness, quality and condition.
That's why we prefer looking at the complete chemistry of an EVOO rather than chasing one fashionable compound.
The Takeaway
A peppery extra virgin olive oil is doing more than creating an interesting flavor experience.
Research that began with a distinctive sensation in the back of the throat led scientists to identify oleocanthal, a naturally occurring phenolic compound in EVOO that inhibits the inflammatory enzymes COX-1 and COX-2.
That discovery has led to continued research into oleocanthal and inflammation, including its potential relevance to inflammatory conditions such as arthritis.
But EVOO isn't ibuprofen, and current research doesn't establish extra virgin olive oil as a treatment for arthritis.
Instead, oleocanthal gives us another fascinating example of how the sensory characteristics we experience when tasting a fresh EVOO are connected to the complex chemistry inside the bottle.
And sometimes, that little peppery kick in the back of your throat is part of what makes a great EVOO so interesting.
Research Source
Beauchamp GK, Keast RSJ, Morel D, et al. Phytochemistry: Ibuprofen-like activity in extra-virgin olive oil. Nature. 2005;437:45–46.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or replace individualized medical advice.
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