Sparta Medicinal ‘White Label’ organic extra virgin olive oil made from wild olives, 250 ml (polyphenols NMR 3004 mg/kg, D1 2567 mg/kg)

Sparta Medicinal “White Label” – wild olive oil from the record-holding forest near Sparta (2026/2027 harvest)

Sparta Medicinal Wild Olive Oil is the olive oil that the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Athens – based on a database of more than 11,000 samples from 15 countries – has confirmed as the olive oil with the highest polyphenol content in the world for three consecutive years. White Label is its second edition: from the same wild forest and the same harvest as Green Label, with a slightly lower total polyphenol content and a clearly lower price. Every figure below refers to the 2026/2027 harvest – the oil pressed in September 2026, which is the oil you will receive.

• Polyphenols by NMR: 3,004 mg/kg (World Olive Center for Health, certificate C2627‑00031)
• D1 index (oleocanthal + oleacein): 2,567 mg/kg
• Oleocanthal: 1,849 mg/kg – this season even slightly more than Green Label (1,819 mg/kg)

For comparison: a supermarket olive oil typically contains 100–300 mg/kg, a good Cretan extra virgin 200–500 mg/kg, and oils marketed as “high phenolic” 1,000–2,000 mg/kg. White Label exceeds 3,000 mg/kg – apart from Green Label, no other oil in our shop comes close to this level.

White Label or Green Label?

Both editions come from the same forest and the same September harvest. Green Label is pressed from fruit growing in the densest, least accessible part of the forest; White Label from the remaining sites. The difference in numbers: total polyphenols 3,004 vs 3,432 mg/kg, oleacein 718 vs 830 mg/kg, D1 index 2,567 vs 2,649 mg/kg. The difference in taste: White Label is “extra strong”, Green Label “super strong” – the producer suggests twice the daily serving for White (10 ml instead of 5 ml). The difference in price: considerable. If oleocanthal itself is what you care about, this season White Label has slightly more of it; if you want the highest total polyphenols and oleacein, choose Green Label.

Season, not vintage – why we write “2026/2027”

In olive oil, what matters is not the year but the month of harvest. September and October mean green, unripe fruit: the highest polyphenols, the most bitter and pungent taste, the lowest yield per tree. With every month of delay, polyphenols drop by tens of percent – by December, the same trees give a completely different, mild oil. White Label 2026/2027 was pressed in September 2026 and analysed on 14 September, a few days after pressing. A fresh analysis from the same season is the best guarantee that the numbers on the certificate describe the oil in the bottle.

Why it costs what it costs

• Wild trees, not a grove. Around 40 hectares of wild olive forest on the slopes of Lykovouni (Laconia, Peloponnese), among wild oregano, lavender and thyme. No irrigation, no fertiliser, no spraying. Wild olives are small and yield several times less oil per kilogram than cultivated varieties.
• Very early harvest. Hand-picked in September from green fruit. Pressing, bottling and storage are done cold within hours of picking, in glass and stainless steel only.
• One small batch a year. It cannot be “topped up” – the next one comes next year.
• Independent analyses of every batch – NMR at the University of Athens plus tests for pesticides, heavy metals and plasticisers.

Concentration, not quantity – two teaspoons instead of ten tablespoons

Olive oil is calorie-dense: about 9 kcal per gram. The polyphenol dose, however, depends on concentration, not on how much oil you eat. The suggested serving of White Label – two teaspoons (about 9 g, about 83 kcal) – provides around 28 mg of polyphenols. To get the same amount from a supermarket oil (about 200 mg/kg) you would need around 140 g – ten tablespoons and about 1,250 kcal. The same polyphenol dose, fifteen times fewer calories. That is why Sparta is a teaspoon oil, not a salad oil – and why 250 ml lasts about 25 days.

Oleocanthal and the D1 index – why these numbers matter

The sharp, throat-catching finish of a good olive oil comes mainly from oleocanthal. The compound was described in 2005 in Nature – researchers noticed that it stings the throat exactly like ibuprofen and acts on the same enzymes. It has since become one of the most intensively studied components of olive oil, with several hundred scientific publications; a few of the newest from 2025 and 2026 are listed at the end of this description. The D1 index is the sum of oleocanthal and oleacein, the two most active olive-oil polyphenols, measured directly by the NMR method developed by Prof. Prokopios Magiatis and his team at the University of Athens. An average extra virgin olive oil has a D1 of around 120 mg/kg; White Label has 2,567 mg/kg – more than twenty times as much. We make no promises about effects; we give numbers, methods and sources, and leave the conclusions to you. More on reading NMR certificates in the Polyphenols section of our blog.

The only health claim authorised in the EU for olive oil (Regulation 432/2012) reads: olive oil polyphenols contribute to the protection of blood lipids from oxidative stress. The condition: at least 5 mg of hydroxytyrosol and its derivatives per 20 g of oil. White Label provides 60.1 mg per 20 g – 12 times more. A single teaspoon already exceeds the threshold. Polyphenols decline over time even in a sealed bottle, so such a large margin means the oil meets the claim throughout its shelf life, not only on the day of analysis.

How to read the attached analyses (photo gallery and PDF file)

1. NMR certificate – World Olive Center for Health, no. C2627‑00031 (sample “L 26 A”). The key lines: Oleocanthal (1,849 mg/kg), Oleacein (718 mg/kg) and their sum, the D1 index (2,567 mg/kg). Below them, the ligstroside and oleuropein aglycons – “older” forms of the same compounds. Total polyphenols analyzed (3,004 mg/kg) is the sum of everything NMR measured. In the comments: 20 g of oil provides 60.07 mg of hydroxytyrosol and derivatives against a threshold of 5 mg. The sentence about “average values of 135 and 105 mg/kg” is a reference point from a University of California, Davis study – White Label exceeds it more than tenfold. Signed by Prof. Prokopios Magiatis. The certificate number can be verified with the World Olive Center.

2. Letter from the University of Athens. Confirmation that the brand Sparta Medicinal Wild Olive Oil had the highest polyphenol content in the world in 2023–2025 and that no pesticides, herbicides, chemicals or plasticisers were detected. It applies to the whole brand – both editions.

NMR is the same method we use for comparing every polyphenol-tested oil in our shop – the figures in the product name can be compared directly with other oils in the category. HPLC and LC‑MS analyses were performed this season for the Green Label edition; we describe them on its product page.

Taste and how to use it

Dark green, distinctly bitter and pungent – this is what an oil with this polyphenol content tastes like, and it cannot taste any other way; a “mild high-phenolic olive oil” is a contradiction in terms. The producer suggests 10 ml a day (two teaspoons); a 250 ml bottle is about 25 servings. A few drops on a finished dish will change its flavour completely. Coughing after swallowing is a normal reaction to oleocanthal.

Storage and shipping

Polyphenols are sensitive to temperature, light and oxygen, so we keep this oil in a refrigerator at a controlled 13 °C (55 °F) and ship it in thermal packaging with a cooling pack. After chilling, the oil may turn cloudy or form a sediment – these are natural waxes that disappear at room temperature. At home: tightly closed, in a dark place, below 21 °C (70 °F); use within a few weeks of opening.

Analytical results – 2026/2027 harvest

Tyrosol derivatives: 2,176 mg/kg; hydroxytyrosol derivatives: 827 mg/kg. Acidity: 0.24% (producer’s data). Variety: wild olives. Harvest: September 2026. Volume: 250 ml, glass. The full set of certificates in a single PDF is available in the “Files” section.

Producer

D. Sakkas & Co, Sparta, Laconia. The olive forest is protected as natural and archaeological heritage. Naturally organic production status confirmed by TÜV Nord. Producer’s website.

Recent research on oleocanthal and oleacein (2025–2026)

Below are peer-reviewed publications from the last two years, plus two earlier studies the new work builds on. We note what each study looked at – cells, animals or humans – because these are very different levels of evidence. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine; this information is educational.

• OleoMetS (2026, humans, randomised placebo-controlled trial) – 102 people with metabolic syndrome took 10 mg a day of an olive oil extract (80% oleocanthal and oleacein) or placebo for 12 weeks. Samoutis G. et al., Clinical Nutrition ESPEN 2026;71:102883. doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2025.102883
• APRIL (2023, humans, randomised crossover trial) – 91 people with obesity and prediabetes used an oleocanthal- and oleacein-rich olive oil instead of a common one for one month; inflammatory and oxidative-stress markers were measured. Ruiz‑García I. et al., Clinical Nutrition 2023. sciencedirect.com
• MeDi‑SUPOL (ongoing, humans) – a trial by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki combining the Mediterranean diet with oleocanthal in people with mild cognitive impairment; recruiting since 2025, completion planned for 2029. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06705738. clinicaltrials.gov
• Oleocanthal and colorectal cancer (2026, mice) – oral oleocanthal given to mice with implanted KRAS-mutant colorectal tumours; the authors also examined the role of gut microbiota by transplanting it from oleocanthal-treated animals. Tarun M.T.I. et al., Nutrients 2026;18(16):2623. doi.org/10.3390/nu18162623
• Oleocanthal and breast cancer cells (2026, cell cultures) – the effect of oleocanthal on the metabolism and mitochondria of three breast cancer cell lines; the response depended on the tumour subtype. Quetglas‑Llobera S. et al., Antioxidants 2026;15(4):410. PubMed
• High-oleocanthal and oleacein olive oil in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (2022, humans, pilot) – 40 ml a day of an oleocanthal- and oleacein-rich oil in early-stage patients; haematological and apoptosis markers were measured. Rojas Gil A.P. et al., Frontiers in Oncology 2022. PMC
• The discovery of oleocanthal (2005, mechanism) – the paper where it all began: Beauchamp G.K. et al., “Ibuprofen‑like activity in extra‑virgin olive oil”, Nature 2005;437:45–46. nature.com

More on clinical studies with high-phenolic olive oil, including meta-analyses, in the Polyphenols section of our blog.