A comparative assessment for efficient oleuropein extraction from olive leaf (Olea europaea L. folium)

Abstract

Since oleuropein has long been known in the health sector and is abundant directly in our country as the fourth largest olive producer, oleuropein, the predominant phenolic ingredient in olive leaves, was recovered in this study using Soxhlet extraction. The effects of different solvent types (acetonitrile, ethanol, methanol, and water), extraction period (4 cycles, 4 h, and 8 h), particle size (250-500 µm and 900-2000 µm), and pretreatment of olive leaves on the yield of oleuropein were examined to determine the maximum yield. A greater oleuropein yield was obtained when the particle size of olive leaves utilized for extraction was lowered. Furthermore, aqueous solvents revealed a higher yield of oleuropein than pure solvents and prolonging the extraction duration resulted in a significant increase in the amount of oleuropein extracted. On the other hand, pretreatment of olive leaves resulted in a reduction in oleuropein output. As a result, with 36% extraction efficiency in terms of olive leaf conversion, the highest oleuropein extraction yield was obtained as 13.35 mg g-1 dry leaf for 8 h of extraction time using olive leaves with a particle size of 250-500 µm and an 80% methanol solution as solvent.