Ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) and maceration extraction (ME) were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) for total phenolic compounds (TPC) from fresh olives. The main phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of TPC were also investigated. The optimized result for UAE was 22mL/g of liquid-solid ratio, 47°C of extraction temperature and 30min of extraction time, 7.01mg/g of yielding, and for ME was 24mL/g of liquid-solid ratio, 50°C of extraction temperature and 4.7h of extraction time, 5.18mg/g of yielding. The HPLC analysis revealed that the extracts by UAE and ME possessed 14 main phenolic compounds, and UAE exhibited more amounts of all phenols than ME. The most abundant phenolic compounds in olive extracts were hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein and rutin. Both extracts showed excellent antioxidant activity in a dose-dependent manner. Taken together, UAE could effectively increase the yield of phenolic compounds from olives. In addition these phenolic compounds could be used as a potential source of natural antioxidants.

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Olive trees, originated from Mediterranean, have been cultivated in China for decades and show great adaption to local environment. However, research on this topic is limited. In this study, the major qualitative characteristics and changes of olive grown in southwest China were investigated. The results showed that oil accumulated during fruit development and reached its maximum value when fruit had fully ripened. Phenolic and flavonoid contents increase rapidly in the early growth stage (0–90 DAFB) and then begin to decrease as fruit ripens. Compared with olive from the Mediterranean, olive from China has special characteristics: higher moisture content in the fruit combined with lower percentages of unsaturated fatty acids and oil content. This is due to southwest China's climate which is wetter and cooler compared to the Mediterranean. Our study suggests that southwest China's higher annual rainfall might contribute to higher fruit moisture content while its low temperatures would be conducive to higher unsaturated fatty acid levels in the fruit.

Oleuropein was extracted from olive leaves by ultrasonic-assisted method and purified by silica gel column chromatography. The sample was identified as oleuropein by UV, infrared, mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis. Oleuropein and total phenolic contents over a year were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography and Folin-Ciocalteu methods. The results showed that 13.52% of pure oleuropein was found with a high purity of 96.54% and purification efficiency of 78.49%. Oleuropein and total phenolic contents of different olive varieties were quite different, but both had similar trends over the year. Five methods, including DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), ABST (2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt), ferric reducing antioxidant power, total reducing power and nitrite-scavenging ability, were used to evaluate the antioxidant activities of oleuropein, and the IC50 were 34.54 ± 0.14 μg/mL, 18.79 ± 0.82 μg/mL, 75.32 ± 1.83 μg/mL, 13.80 ± 0.68 μg/mL and 1.00 ± 0.08 mg/mL, respectively. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThis study provides information on the changes in contents including oleuropein and total phenolics in a year to help understand the relationship between content of oleuropein and various influencing factors. Currently, the metabolic pathways of oleuropein are not clear. These results provide information for the study of the metabolism of phenolic compounds in olive and promote research at the molecular level. Oleuropein occupies a large proportion of total polyphenols in olive and can be to be purified by silica gel column chromatography with high purification efficiency for industrial production and laboratory production. In addition, the comprehensive evaluation of activity in vitro shows that oleuropein is more useful than BHT (2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol) for the application in food and human health.

Water is essential for crops and plays a vital role in olive (Olea europaea) growth. Three irrigation treatments, rain-fed (CK), flood irrigation (FI), and drip irrigation (DI), were applied from late November to late May in a 2-year study (Nov. 2015 to Oct. 2017) on two olive cultivars, Coratina and Koroneiki. Shoot growth, flower and fruit characteristics, and olive and oil yields were measured. Compared with CK, FI had significantly higher values of vegetative growth, olive and oil yields, moisture content, and oil content. Although the fruit weight, pulp rate, and oil content with DI were the lowest, our results support that DI had the greatest positive effects on olive vegetative growth, flowers, fruit set, and olive and oil yields. It is suggested that DI in winter and spring is the best irrigation strategy for olive productivity in southwest China.