Triterpenic acids in table olives

Pentacyclic triterpene in Olea europaea L: A simultaneous determination by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

“…Prior to the analysis, the procedure was optimized in terms of type of solvent and adequate extraction volume. In this step, the concentrations of MA and OA were monitored since these compounds are the most abundant triterpenes in table olives [4,6].…”

“…Different solvents previously reported for the analysis of pentacyclic triterpenes in diverse matrixes were assessed: ethyl acetate [15,21], MeOH 80% [29], MeOH 100% [16] and EtOH:MeOH (1:1) [4,6]. Among the different solvents evaluated, the highest extraction percentages of MA and OA were obtained when EtOH:MeOH (1:1) was employed.…”

“…Thereafter, the ursanyl cation yields to ␣-amyrin from which arise uvaol and ursolic acid [2]. Triterpenic alcohols (erythrodiol and uvaol) and acids (oleanolic, ursolic and maslinic acids) have been found in Olea europaea L. leaves [3,4], whereas in the ripe fruit only oleanolic and maslinic acids have been detected [3][4][5][6]. Recently, maslinic and oleanolic acids along with traces of ursolic acid have been reported in virgin olive oil from different cultivars [7].…”

“…Despite of the potential beneficial effects on health of these bioactive compounds, there is a lack of a method that allows their simultaneous determination in table olives, where they have been scarcely studied [3][4][5][6]. Traditionally, pentacyclic triterpenic compounds have been determined by gas chromatography although their high molecular weight along with low volatility required a derivatization step prior to its analysis [3,8,15].…”

“…Traditionally, pentacyclic triterpenic compounds have been determined by gas chromatography although their high molecular weight along with low volatility required a derivatization step prior to its analysis [3,8,15]. More recently high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was introduced in the determination of these compounds [4,6]. However, the low UV absorption provided by their saturated skeleton required a derivatization step to improve the sensitivity [10,16].…”