Global Journal of Pharmacology 7 (3): 333-336, 2013 ISSN 1992-0075 © IDOSI Publications, 2013 DOI: 10.5829/idosi.gjp.2013.7.3.1111 Corresponding Author: Muhammad Parvaiz, Department of Botany, University of Gujrat, Pakistan. 333 A Review: Therapeutic Significance of Olive Olea europaea L. (Oleaceae Family) Muhammad Parvaiz, Khalid Hussain, Muhammad Shoaib, Gulzaman William, Muhammad Tufail, Zubair Hussain, Daniyal Gohar and Sahar Imtiaz Department of Botany, University of Gujrat, Gujrat, Pakistan Abstract: Olive (Olea europaea L.) is one of the oldest known cultivated plant tree species. The wild olive tree is an evergreen, prolonged species, extensive as a native plant in the Mediterranean province. This sanctified tree is an affluent source of important nutrients and bioactive of remedial and therapeutic interest. Olive fruit contains substantial concentration of fresh pulp weight of hydrophilic, lipophilic and phenolic compounds that are known to possess multiple biological activities such as antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, laxative and antiplatelet. Olive oil extracted mechanically from the fruit, is also very popular for its nutritive and health-promoting potential, especially against cardiovascular disorder due to the presence of high level of monounsaturated and other valuable minor components such as phenolic, phytosterols, tocopherols, carotenoids, chlorophyll and squalene. The cultivar region of production, yield time and the processing techniques employed are some of the fact shown to influence on the composition of olive fruit and oil. This review focuses comprehensively on the therapeutic importance of the plant. A variety of factors affecting the composition of this food product and therapeutic value are also discussed. Key words: Medicinal plants Olive Therapeutic importance Pakistan INTRODUCTION therapeutic and nutritional values. Over the centuries, The Olive (Olea europaea L.) is a small tree, which health and conservation. For instance, earliest Egyptians belongs to the family Oleaceae and is native to tropical used the leaves to preserve Pharaohs. Similarly, they and warm temperate regions of the world. The tree, have been valued as a well-known traditional remedy to well-known for its fruit, also called the olive, is delight fever and some tropical diseases such as malaria commercially essential in the Mediterranean region as [5]. Cost-effectively, the fruit of olive is an imperative a most important source of olive oil [1]. The tree is commodity as it yields nutritious edible oil with potential usually distributed in the coastal regions of the eastern remedial functions [6]. The health benefits of olive oil are Mediterranean Basin, the neighboring coastal areas of mainly ascribed to the existence of high content of south eastern Europe, western Asia and northern Africa monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFAs) and functional as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian bio-actives including tocopherols, carotenoids, Sea. phospholipids and phenolics, with numerous biological Although olive is now cultured in several parts of activities [7]. the world, the Medetarrianen region still serves as the Latest advances have been made in the scientific major production area accounting for about 98% of the sympathetic of how diet and explicit foods within a world’s olive cultivation [2]. Earliest Greek literature balanced diet promote human health and prevent chronic reveals use of olive oil for body fitness. In the illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers and circumstance of spiritual significance, olive tree and its neurodegenerative disorders. Not astonishingly, fruit (olives) are narrated over numerous epochs in the customers are turning toward foods with remedial Bible, both in the New and Old Testaments as well as in properties as promising dietary interventions for disease the Quran [3]. The olive tree has an extensive history of Mediterranean diet and specific foods that are essential extracts from olive leaf have been used for promoting