Table olive polyphenols: A simultaneous determination by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Area of Science:

• Food Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Nutritional Science

Background:

• Table olives possess diverse polyphenols linked to chronic disease prevention.
• Existing methods for polyphenol analysis in olives have limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel, sensitive method for identifying and quantifying polyphenols in table olives.
• To assess if table olive consumption meets established European Union health claims.

Main Methods:

• Methanol:ethanol (1:1) extraction followed by Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS).
• Utilized an Eclipse-XDB-C18 chromatographic column with specific mobile phases.
• Validated the method for linearity, recovery, sensitivity, precision, and accuracy.

Main Results:

• Quantified 17 key polyphenols, including hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, and oleuropein.
• The method demonstrated excellent validation parameters (R²>0.996, recovery >95%, RSD <15%) with a 9-minute run time.
• Analysis of Marfil table olives identified 15 polyphenols, with hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol being most abundant.

Conclusions:

• Table olives are an excellent source of bioactive polyphenols, supporting their role as a functional food.
• Daily intake of approximately 7 table olives can fulfill the EU health claim for olive oil polyphenols.
• The developed LC-ESI-MS/MS method is robust and suitable for routine analysis of olive polyphenols.