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Antioxidant activities of the volatile oils and methanol extracts from olive stems

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Abstract

This study was designed to examine the chemical composition and antioxidant activities of the volatile oils and methanol extracts of Olea europaea L. (cvs) chemlali and neb jmel stems. GC and GC–MS analyses of the volatile oils resulted in the identification of 38 and 35 compounds, representing 91.1 and 87.4 % of the volatile oils. Phenylethyl alcohol was found in the volatile oil of each cultivar, which was also the major volatile component of cv. chemlali and cv. neb jmel stems. Besides benzyl alcohol, methyl salicylate and 3-ethenylpyridine were the main volatile compounds of cv. chemlali, while nonanal, 3-ethenylpyridine and benzyl alcohol of cv. neb jmel stems were also the main constituents. Significant differences were also found in total tannin contents among two cultivars, representing 8.10 mg CEQ/g DW in cv. chemlali and 20.47 mg CEQ/g DW in cv. neb jmel. The highest contents of total phenols and o-diphenols were observed in stems extracts of cv. neb jmel (78.26, and 9.56 mg/100 g, respectively). The HPLC profiles for methanol extracts from stems of cv. chemlali and cv. neb jmel showed that oleuropein, vanillic acid and gallic acid were the predominant free phenolic compounds. Antioxidant activities of the volatile oils and the methanolic extract from stems parts were evaluated by DPPH and ABTS+ radical-scavenging activity assays. In all tests, methanolic extracts obtained from stems parts showed better antioxidant activity than volatile oils. Principal components analysis of the phenolics content and antioxidant activities showed discrimination between methanol extracts of the two cultivars.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Tunisian Ministry of Enseignement Superieur, Scientific Research and Technology (UR03/ES-08). Part of this work was carried out at the Dipartimento di Chimica Bioorganica e Biofarmacia, Universita‘di Pisa, Italy. We wish to thank the personnel of the laboratory of “Human Nutrition and Metabolic Disorder” Faculty of Medicine of Monastir.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Biochemistry UR03/ES-08 “Human Nutrition and Metabolic Disorder” Faculty of Medicine, Monastir, 5019, Tunisia

    Faten Brahmi, Beligh Mechri, Madiha Dhibi & Mohamed Hammami

  2. Dipartimento di Chimica Bioorganica e Biofarmacia, via Bonanno 33, 56126, Pisa, Italy

    Guido Flamini

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  1. Faten Brahmi
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  2. Beligh Mechri
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  3. Guido Flamini
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  4. Madiha Dhibi
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  5. Mohamed Hammami
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Correspondence to Faten Brahmi.

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Communicated by E. Kuzniak-Gebarowska.

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Brahmi, F., Mechri, B., Flamini, G. et al. Antioxidant activities of the volatile oils and methanol extracts from olive stems. Acta Physiol Plant 35, 1061–1070 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-012-1144-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-012-1144-2

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