A Way to Save Water and Increase Benefits of Olive Oil

08 Sep 2015 --- A team of researchers in Madrid and Montpellier have found that the beneficial components of olive oil can be increased by altering the irrigation methods. The irrigation methods they propose not only increase beneficial compounds in the oil, but are also more sustainable as it involves depriving the trees of water at a time when water has almost no impact on olive production.

The healthy compounds, phytoprostanes, are released in their free form – the only form available to the human body – under stressful conditions such as water deprivation or other threats to a plants existence. Compounds are formed in response to stress and act to protect the plant from oxidative damage. They are part of the family of antioxidants – shown to be important in heart and liver health.

Olive trees thrive naturally in arid conditions, although water is necessary for increased fruit production. However, due to increasingly dry conditions and frequent water bans, more sustainable methods of irrigation have become necessary.

Over two years, the research team chose two irrigation methods; watering frequently to avoid water-stress and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI). The trees which were exposed to RDI yielded slightly less fruit but the oil was of a better quality, containing more phytoprostanes than the regularly watered trees.
In the RDI trees, water use was reduced by about 75% compared to control trees and whilst vegetation was also less, the fruit yield did not suffer. This would seem to be an ideal solution to water restrictions and drought as well as increasing the health benefits of olive oil.