Abstract
The cultivar Bianchera is an autochthonous variety from the eastern part of northern Italy, but it is also cultivated in the Slovenian and Croatian peninsula of Istria where it is named Belica (Slovenia) and Bjelica (Croatia). The properties of oleocanthal, a natural anti-inflammatory ibuprofen-like compound found in commercial monocultivar extra virgin olive oils, were determined by means of both quantitative 1H NMR (qNMR) and HPLC analyses, where qNMR was identified as a rapid and reliable method for determining the oleocanthal content. The total phenolic content (TPC) was determined by means of the Folin–Ciocalteau method and the major phenols present in the olive oils were also quantified by means of HPLC analyses. All these analyses confirmed that the cultivar Bianchera was very rich in polyphenols and satisfied the health claim provided by the EU Commission Regulation on the polyphenols content of olive oils and their beneficial effects on human health.
Highlights
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is one of the most valuable vegetable oils, part of the Mediterranean diet and is appreciated for its organoleptic properties, as well as for its nutritional value
We focused our attention on commercial extra virgin olive oils to determine whether these olive oils could satisfy the EU health claim, the phenolic content depends on several factors
QNMR was applied for the quantification of oleocanthal in extra virgin olive oils and the obtained results were in good agreement with the HPLC analysis, demonstrating that this is a simple and reliable method that does not require large quantities of solvent to determine the content of oleocanthal, as well as other related aldehydes
Summary
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is one of the most valuable vegetable oils, part of the Mediterranean diet and is appreciated for its organoleptic properties, as well as for its nutritional value. Several benefits have been attributed to the consumption of olive oil, such as antioxidant properties, prevention in cardiovascular disease, chemoprevention, lower incidence of neurological disorders and neurodegeneration and protection towards inflammatory bowel diseases [1] Most of these properties are due to the phenolic compounds present in extra virgin olive oil, such as hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein and oleocanthal, which are part of the 2% unsaponifiable fraction. EVOOtrends depends on several ature and wherein different were observed [6].factors, From thesuch studyas ofthe typ tivar, climate,process, ripeness of the olives at aharvesting, andoleocanthal the extraction the malaxation the authors suggested biosynthetic storage pathway for and proc oleacein through the formation of oleokoronal and oleomissional and a subsequent step of phenolic profile of cultivar Koroneiki from Greece was recently determined by M removal of the methyl group that is catalysed by a methylesterase.
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