The project has been developed according to a step-by-step procedure carried out by a multidisciplinary team. The operational plan included different activities as reported below:

Collection of the olive leaves and phenolic extract (OLE) production
Chemical and functional characterization, in terms of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, of OLE
Analysis of OLE effect on in vitro properties related to the functionalities of starters and commercial or native potentially probiotic strains
Pilot scale production and first evaluation of 3 new dairy products from sheep/goat milk added with OLE, commercial and native starters, dietary fibres, and commercial/native potentially probiotic bacteria
Evaluation of physico-chemical, nutritional, microbiological and sensory features, overall antioxidant activity and shelf-life of the prototype dairy products, together with the quali-quantitative analysis of the phenolic components derived from the fortification with OLE in the products
Study of the adaptability of pilot production processes and technological transfer within the context of the dairy companies
Evaluation of the shelf-life of final dairy products, growth and survival of the inoculated microbial strains (starters and probiotics), and formulation of the nutritional label

People involved