Using Olive Leaves to Enrich Olive Oil With Oleuropein Aglycone.
5 affiliations
- 1School of Science, Division of STEM The University of Waikato Hamilton New Zealand.
- 2ALS Food & Environmental NZ Formerly Analytica Laboratories Hamilton New Zealand.
- 3Whio Innovations Ltd Tauranga New Zealand.
- 4Department of Medicine, Physiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, and iMIND Hopkins, School of Medicine Johns Hopkins University Baltimore Maryland USA.
- 5Institute of Medicine University of Maine Orono Maine USA.
Abstract
Oleuropein is present in olive fruit and is converted during olive-oil manufacture into oleuropein aglycone, other downstream secoiridoid derivatives, and phenolic alcohols. Oleuropein aglycone is among the major phenolic constituents of extra virgin olive oil; however, concentrations of these compounds can vary substantially between batches of oil. Olive leaves, an oleuropein-rich by-product of the olive industry, may provide a source of phenolic compounds for targeted olive-oil enrichment. This study investigated the prospect of extracting phenolic compounds, particularly oleuropein, from olive leaves into an aqueous extract followed by enzymatic hydrolysis to oleuropein aglycone and assessment of its transfer to an oil phase. The impact of parameters such as dryness of the leaves when making olive leaf aqueous extract and different sources of β-glucosidase (almond flour, almond meal, and almond milk) to hydrolyse oleuropein to the aglycone were investigated. Among the conditions tested, drying leaves at 70°C produced the highest oleuropein concentration in the extract, and almond milk as the source of enzyme was the best combination to achieve hydrolysis of oleuropein. However, the transfer of the oleuropein aglycone from the aqueous extract to the oil phase was inefficient under the conditions tested, indicating that multiple factors were limiting the mass transfer.
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BibTeX
@article{bogt2026using,
title = {{Using Olive Leaves to Enrich Olive Oil With Oleuropein Aglycone.}},
author = {Jade Te Bogt and David Speed and Ralf C Schlothauer and Jed W Fahey and Megan N C Grainger},
journal = {Food science \& nutrition},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/fsn3.72421},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42927163},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Using Olive Leaves to Enrich Olive Oil With Oleuropein Aglycone.
AU - Jade Te Bogt
AU - David Speed
AU - Ralf C Schlothauer
AU - Jed W Fahey
AU - Megan N C Grainger
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - Food science & nutrition
DO - 10.1002/fsn3.72421
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42927163
AB - Oleuropein is present in olive fruit and is converted during olive-oil manufacture into oleuropein aglycone, other downstream secoiridoid derivatives, and phenolic alcohols. Oleuropein aglycone is among the major phenolic constituents of extra virgin olive oil; however, concentrations of these compounds can vary substantially between batches of oil. Olive leaves, an oleuropein-rich by-product of the olive industry, may provide a source of phenolic compounds for targeted olive-oil enrichment. This study investigated the prospect of extracting phenolic compounds, particularly oleuropein, from olive leaves into an aqueous extract followed by enzymatic hydrolysis to oleuropein aglycone and assessment of its transfer to an oil phase. The impact of parameters such as dryness of the leaves when making olive leaf aqueous extract and different sources of β-glucosidase (almond flour, almond meal, and almond milk) to hydrolyse oleuropein to the aglycone were investigated. Among the conditions tested, drying leaves at 70°C produced the highest oleuropein concentration in the extract, and almond milk as the source of enzyme was the best combination to achieve hydrolysis of oleuropein. However, the transfer of the oleuropein aglycone from the aqueous extract to the oil phase was inefficient under the conditions tested, indicating that multiple factors were limiting the mass transfer.
SN - 2048-7177
ER -