Beneficial Effects of Standardized Extracts from Wastes of Red Oranges and Olive Leaves

Abstract

The awareness of the large amount of waste produced along the food chain, starting in the agricultural sector and continuing across industrial transformation to the domestic context, has in recent years also aroused strong concern amongst the public, who are ing about the possible consequences that this could have on environmental sustainability, resource waste and human health. The aim of the present research is the recovery of substances with high added value from waste and by-products typical of the Mediterranean area, such as the residue from the industrial processing of red oranges, called pastazzo (peels, pulps and seeds), which is particularly rich in anthocyanins, flavanones and hydroxycinnamic acids, and has numerous nutraceutical properties, as well as the olive leaves coming from olive-tree pruning, which are rich in substances such as oleuropein, elenolic acid, hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol and rutin. The effect of Red Orange Extract (ROE) and Olive Leaf Extract (OLE) on HepG2 fatty storage capacity was assessed performing Oil Red O’ staining, and antioxidant properties of the extracts were evaluated following the steatosis model onset. Based on the results obtained, the preparation of natural extracts that are derived from these waste products can be useful for preventing, counteracting or delaying the onset of the complications of fatty liver disease, such as hepatic steatosis.