Can the High Performance Liquid Chromatographic (HPLC) Tracing of Biophenols Guide the Choice of Extra Virgin Olive Oils (EVOO) To Be Con-sumed “Raw”?

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVO) represents the main lipid intake of the Mediterranean Diet. It is considered a functional food as it is rich in polyphenols and antioxidant molecules, having multiple nutraceutical properties and being responsible for its bitter and spicy taste. Our body needs these EVO molecules, especially when taken “raw”, while cooking tends to denature them. These water-soluble polyphenols together with the fat-soluble Vitamin E represent EVOO’s antioxidant apparatus that protects the fat mass. EVOOs oxidize naturally and progressively, so their shelf life is of 18 months. In order to maintain their functional and nutritional properties, EVOOs must be stored away from light, heat and air, since its oxidation would accelerate. Prolonged exposure on the shelf would therefore cause a rapid impoverishment of its antioxidant defense system, producing rancidity in the taste and the formation of free radicals, which are harmful molecules to our body.