Evaluation of vitamin E by HPLC in a variety of olive-based foodstuffs

A survey of vitamin E levels in a wide variety of olive-based foodstuffs was conducted. Vitamin E was determined by normal-phase HPLC. The only form of vitamin E found in all commercial presentations of table olives was α-tocopherol, with an average content of 3.1 mg/100 g edible portion. A very low content (<0.4 mg/100 g edible portion) of γ-tocopherol was found in most of the samples analyzed. The main sources of variation of vitamin E were olive cultivars and commercial presentations. Processing type (Spanish style green olives, directly brined olives, ripe olives) had a limited influence. Irrespective of the elaboration style, the Gordal cultivar was the poorest with respect to the vitamin E content. On the other hand, all commercial presentations based on the Hojiblanca cultivar had high contents of vitamin E. The results of this study may be used by the industry for requirements of nutritional labeling or by nutritionists to estimate vitamin E intakes in diets that include table olives.