Policosanol characterization and accumulation during ripening of Tunisian Olea europaea L. fruits

Policosanol is a mixture of bioactive molecules shown to have beneficial effects in treating hypercholesterolemia. Food products enriched in policosanol are currently available in the US market. In the present study, eight policosanol components were identified by GC‐MS during the ripening of Meski olives. The quantitative characterization of these compounds was performed using GC‐FID. The results showed that the maximum level of total policosanol components (947.20 mg/100 g oil) was reached at the 26^th week after the flowering date of Meski olives. Hexacosanol and tetracosanol were the predominant policosanol components at Meski olive maturity. However pentacosanol, heptacosanol and tricosanol were less present in the olives and they accounted for 14% of the total policosanol at complete maturity of the fruit. The total policosanol content of Meski olives was higher than that of beeswax and whole sugar cane, which belong to the sources of dietary supplements containing policosanol. These findings indicate that olive is a potential source of these health‐enhancing compounds for functional foods and nutraceutical applications.