Analysis of Bioactive Microconstituents in Olives, Olive Oil and Olive Leaves by NMR Spectroscopy: An Overview of the Last Decade

Publisher Summary In recent years, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been used for the analysis of olive tree products because it allows the investigation of the structures of a large number of compounds in a single experiment with little or no sample manipulation and it is suitable for an easy and firm quantitative description of the various metabolites in the liquid and solid phases. NMR spectroscopy is well known for its rapidity and accuracy because it does not need internal standards and prior calibration. A drawback of NMR may be its low sensitivity, which has been overcome by recent advances in superconductive magnets, and cryo-probes, as well as the development of sophisticated NMR techniques. In this respect, NMR spectroscopy has emerged in recent years as a complementary analytical technique to chromatographic methods for the analysis of micro constituents in the products of the Olea europaea. This chapter analyzes bioactive micro constituents in olives, olive oil and olive leaves by NMR spectroscopy and reviews the studies carried out during the last decade focusing primarily on the new developments of NMR spectroscopy that made possible the detection and identification of new micro constituents.