Development and Validation of an Analytical Methodology Based on Liquid Chromatography–Electrospray Tandem Mass Spectrometry for the Simultaneous Determination of Phenolic Compounds in Olive Leaf Extract

Olive leaves, an agricultural waste, have great potential as a natural antioxidant. The current study was made to assess the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of both the individual and combined phenolics in olive leaf extract. A combined phenolics mixture was prepared by amount ratios of the phenolic compounds in the olive leaf extract. The results showed that both the individual and combined phenolics exhibited good radical scavenging abilities, and also revealed superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity. In terms of antimicrobial activity, both oleuropein and caffeic acid showed inhibition effects against microorganisms. Furthermore, the antimicrobial effect of the combined phenolics was significantly higher than those of the individual phenolics. These results show that the combination of olive leaf extract phenolics possessed antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. This study indicates that olive leaf extract might be a valuable bioactive source, and would seem to be applicable in both the health and medical food. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Olive oil, an important component of the Mediterranean diet, produces cardioprotective effects, probably due to both oleic acid and the polyphenols such as oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol. Our aim in this study was to assess whether a polyphenol-enriched extract from the leaves of Olea europaea L. with oleuropein as the major component attenuated the cardiovascular, hepatic, and metabolic signs of a high-carbohydrate, high-fat (HCHF) diet (carbohydrate, 52%; fat, 24%, 25% fructose in drinking water) in rats. Male Wistar rats were fed either a cornstarch diet (CS) or a HCHF diet for a total of 16 wk. Diets of the treatment groups [CS+olive leaf extract (OLE) and HCHF+OLE] were supplemented with 3% OLE after 8 wk of being fed their respective CS or HCHF diets for a further 8 wk. After 16 wk, HCHF rats developed signs of metabolic syndrome, including elevated abdominal and hepatic fat deposition, collagen deposition in heart and liver, cardiac stiffness, and oxidative stress markers (plasma malondialdehyde and uric acid concentrations), with diminished aortic ring reactivity, abnormal plasma lipid profile, impaired glucose tolerance, and hypertension. Compared with HCHF rats, those in the HCHF+OLE group had improved or normalized cardiovascular, hepatic, and metabolic signs with the exception of elevated blood pressure. These results strongly suggest that an OLE containing polyphenols such as oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol reverses the chronic inflammation and oxidative stress that induces the cardiovascular, hepatic, and metabolic symptoms in this rat model of diet-induced obesity and diabetes without changing blood pressure.