OLIVE OIL AS. THE PAINkILLER. Scientists from the US has found that olive oil
has properties of a painkiller. Olive oil is widely used in the Mediterranean.
www.asiabiotech.com
Agriculture
S
cientists from the US has found that olive oil has properties of a painkiller. Olive oil is widely used in the Mediterranean cuisine.
During a trip to Italy, American scientist, Gary Beuchamp from the Monell Chemical Sense Center at University of Pennsylvania has noticed a tingling sensation at the back of his throat when he tasted some newlypressed olive oil. He noticed the same kind of sensation when he ingested ibuprofen, a painkiller. Returning home, he and his colleagues worked on olive oil to identify the compound that might alleviate pain. Ibuprofen, a cyclo-oxygenase (COX) inhibitor, is a painkiller that has been associated with the reduction in the risk of developing some kinds of cancer. Blocking this enzyme impedes the production of the chemical messengers (prostaglandins) that cause the pain and inflammation. Another COX inhibitor is aspirin which is also commonly used to relief pain. The scientists discovered that the compound—oleocanthal found in olive oil, was found to be able to alleviate pain. “Oleo” means olive, “canth” means sting and “al” stands for aldehyde. The scientists assembled a synthetic form of the compound and tested it on volunteers and also tested it in lab dishes of COX enzymes. They found that consuming 50 grams of extra-virgin olive oil contains up to 200 micrograms of oleocanthal. This equivalent to 10 per cent of the recommended dose of ibuprofen for adult pain relief. The scientists are currently working on identification of how oleocanthal inhibits COX enzymes and how it is related to the stinging sensation in the throat.
