Valorization of olive by-products in new biobased toothpaste: health and sustainability advantages

The olive leaf and its extracts are widely known for their beneficial properties for human health, owing to their richness in phenol compounds, in particular oleuropein. Toothpastes stand for an intrinsic part of our daily consumption of hygiene and oral health products and are used frequently and daily. Enhancement of the olive leaves of the southern Tunisian variety (Olea europaea L.) combined with other natural products from the arid environment, namely green clay and cloves, was invested for the production of natural-based organic toothpaste. In contrast, other toothpastes which are commercially available and widely known for their chemical content, namely sulfates, fluorine, and triclosan, exhibit harmful effects on human health. Therefore, a comparison in terms of cost and quality between the characteristics of the toothpaste produced and the international standards of toothpaste according to ISO 11,609:2017 was enacted. The majority of the characteristics of the produced toothpaste abide by international standards. A correlation study was carried out to investigate the characteristics of the toothpaste as well as those of the ingredients involved in the manufactured toothpaste lasting 3 months, in order to examine its stability and the further expiration date. The basic merit lies in the fact that it has no foaming power, which can be very beneficial for oral health, especially with the problem of dental hydration. In addition, a social economic challenge was addressed and discussed. Several socioeconomic advantages can be recorded through the manufacturing of this type of product, through performing a perfect harmony with recent advances in the economy of sustainable development and the safeguard of environment interests of future generations. In fact, a concept of sustainable development advocating a new model of environmental governance by providing an approach that integrates economic, ecological, and social dimensions was elaborated in this work.