Extra virgin olive oil is also resistant to cosmic rays

La severity and cosmic rays they had no effect on the quality of the remaining extra virgin olive oil 6 months in space and, therefore, theextra virgin olive oil can enter permanently in the astronauts' diet: in fact, its valuable nutritional and health characteristics have remained unchanged. These are the results of the experimentation on the olive oil samples returned to Earth after spending six months on the International Space Station (ISS) together with the astronaut Esa Samantha Cristoforetti, presented in Cosenza as part of a project betweenItalian Space Agency and CREAIn partnership with Coldiretti e Unaprol-Italian Olive Consortium.
The project is studying, through an original and unpublished experiment, the effects of permanence in space on chemical-physical, sensory characteristics e nutritional of extra virgin olive oil, as well as its possible application effects on our planet. The sample was analyzed at the CREA headquarters in Rende where it was compared with samples of the same oil stored in the same packages but left on the ground.
Una unique experimentation in the world which revealed how the composition of secondary metabolites – phenols and tocopherols (vitamin E) – of the Italian extra virgin olive oil is not influenced by microgravity and radiation present in space within 6 months, but also offers information on the stability of the extra virgin olive oil and on the shelf life in the spatial environmental conditions. From the preliminary data obtained, it emerged in fact how the special packaging in a vacuum protective bag, tested and currently permitted in missions on board the ISS, impermeable to oxygen and kept under vacuum, has allowed the preservation of the extra virgin olive oil at least for first 6 months within the ISS, ensuring a quality made in Italy product, still rich in biophenols and tocopherols.
The high content of natural antioxidants and, in particular, of olive biophenols, is essential for those who, like astronauts, are subjected to conditions of intense psycho-physical stress.