Leaves incorporation during the extraction of olive oils can enhance their chemical-sensory quality. Thus, leaves
from cvs. Arbequina or Santulhana were added (1%, w/w) during the extraction of Arbequina oils using an
Abencor system, being discussed the impacts on the phenolics and volatiles formation enzymatic pathways.
Leaves addition contributed to a significant decrease (P-value < 0.05) of the contents of secoiridoids (- 11%), C6-
aldehydes (- 16%), and ester compounds (–22%). This could be tentatively related to a reduction of the enzymatic
activity of secoiridoids biosynthesis and lipoxygenase pathways, promoted by the leaves’ addition.
Moreover, in the presence of leaves, the oils’ total contents of phenolics and volatiles were significantly reduced
(- 7 and - 17%, respectively). Contrary, the incorporation of leaves significantly increased (P-value < 0.05) the
contents of C6-alcohols (+37%) and the intensities of the green fruity (+25%) and apple (+30%) sensations.
The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology
(FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/
MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020), CEB (UIDB/04469/2020),
REQUIMTE-LAQV (UIDB/50006/2020) units and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020); to BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004), to
Project “GreenHealth - Digital strategies in biological assets to improve
well-being and promote green health” (Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000042)
and to Project AgriFood XXI (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000041), funded
by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of
Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. ´Itala M.G. Marx
acknowledges the Ph.D. grant (SFRH/BD/137283/2018) provided by
FCT. Nuno Rodrigues thanks to National funding by FCT- Foundation for
Science and Technology, P.I., through the institutional scientific
employment program-contract.
