Investigation of Oleuropein Content in Olive Leaf Extract Obtained by Supercritical Fluid Extraction and Soxhlet Methods

The separation processes of the phenolic compounds from solid plant matrixes are of great importance. In the scope of developing more efficient methods to separate olive leaf extract, dried and ground olive tree leaves from Aegean region of Turkey were extracted by means of Soxhlet and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) methods. In the Soxhlet method, different types of solvents (hexane, water, ethanol, methanol, and methanol/hexane (3:2, v/v) mixture) were used to determine the effect of the solvent type on the extraction performance. In the SFE method, the effect of pressure (100–300 bar), temperature (50 and 100°C), and type of co-solvent on the amount of both extract and oleuropein were investigated. Ethanol, methanol and water were selected as co-solvent in 20% (v/v) amount. Quantitative analysis was performed by using a liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) technique. The results of SFE were compared with those obtained by the Soxhlet method. Whereas the highest oleuropein yield was achieved via the Soxhlet method through methanol with the value of 37.84 mg/g dried leaf, the best oleuropein yield was achieved with the value of 14.26 mg/g dried leaf by using CO₂ modified by methanol at 300 bar and 100°C in the SFE method.