Effect of the Treatment of the Olive Tree (Olea europaea L.) on the Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Properties in Olive Fruits

Gracia Patricia Blanch¹, Gema Flores¹, Maria C. Gómez-Jiménez² and Maria Luisa Ruiz del Castillo^1,

¹Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos y Nutrición. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ICTAN-CSIC), Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006 Madrid

²Departamento de Biología Vegetal, Ecología y Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda/ de Elvas, s/n, 06006, Badajoz

Cite this paper:
Gracia Patricia Blanch, Gema Flores, Maria C. Gómez-Jiménez and Maria Luisa Ruiz del Castillo. Effect of the Treatment of the Olive Tree (Olea europaea L.) on the Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Properties in Olive Fruits. Journal of Food and Nutrition Research. 2018; 6(1):49-55. doi: 10.12691/jfnr-6-1-8

Abstract

We here investigate the effects of the application of methyl jasmonate to olive trees on antioxidant composition of olive fruits. Two cultivars (ie, Arbequina and Picual) were evaluated in our study. As a result, the total phenol content increased significantly with the treatment in Arbequina (from 155.89 to 434.22 mg gallic acid kg^-1) whereas decreases were observed in Picual (from 338.27 to 127.71 mg gallic acid kg^-1). Similarly, decreases in phenolic acid content were measured in Arbequina whilst no effect was observed in Picual olives. However, the contents of oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol did not increase with the pre-harvest methyl jasmonate for both Arbequina and Picual. Also for both cultivars the treatment of the olive trees increased the free radical scavenging activity of the olive fruits (IC₅₀ from 514.36 to 1125.46 µg/mL in Arbequina and from 611.98 to 114.55 µg/mL in Picual). The results here found are deeply discussed.

Keywords:
olive fruit olive tree methyl jasmonate antioxidant pre-harvest treatment phenolics quality

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