Ricerc@Sapienza

Objectives: Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) supplementation is associated with a significant reduction in cardiovascular disease but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. Methods: In platelets that were taken from healthy subjects (n = 5), agonist-induced hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production and NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2) activation in the presence of or without catalase, which catabolizes H2O2, were investigated. Platelet H2O2 production, NOX2 activation, EVOO vitamin E, and total polyphenols as well as EVOO's ability to scavenge H2O2 were also measured.

The optimization of phenolic compounds extraction from extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) was achieved applying a Response Surface Methodology. A simple and straightforward method for the extraction of phenolic compounds from EVOO has been optimized in the presence of functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). AuNPs were prepared in the presence of Cysteamine as stabilizing thiol (AuNPs-Cys) in order to obtain a water stable colloidal suspension. The obtained AuNPs-Cys, with mean size of about 10 nm were observed by AFM and used as extracting phase of phenolic compounds from EVOO.