Quality Control of Olive Leaf Extract and Discrimination between Different Cultivars Cultivated in Egypt Using Multivariate Data Analysis

Abstract

Olive is an important crop native to Mediterranean countries whose cultivation covers about 8 million ha of the land. The world consumption of olive oil and olive fruits reached to 2,199,000 tons in 2010. It is worth mentioning that Egypt is among the ten countries with the highest olive production around the world with a production of 332,321 metric tons of olives annually. During the oil production large amounts of by-products as leaves are accumulated with no particular use. However recently, several important biological activities of olive leaves have been reported including cardio-protective activity; anti-diabetic and antimicrobial properties in addition to their anticancer activities on various tumour types. Most of the reported activities of the olive leaves are related to its chemistry as they are characterized by the presence of oleuropein, a major secoiridoid, and its derivatives. The leaves are also considered a rich source of polyphenols, flavonoids, lignans, triterpenes and fatty acids. Olive tree is characterized by having different cultivars. Identification of olive cultivars is not only important for the quality of oil production, but it also affects the composition of the leaf extract.