Characterization of refined edible oils enriched with phenolic extracts from olive leaves and pomace.

Refined edible oils (viz., oils from maize, soya, high-oleic sunflower, sunflower, olive, and rapeseed) enriched at two concentration levels (200 and 400 μg/mL total phenolic content) with phenolic extracts isolated from olive pomace and leaves have been characterized and compared with nonenriched oils and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Enriched oils were analyzed by LC-TOF/MS to generate representative fingerprints and compared with nonenriched oils and EVOO by unsupervised principal component analysis (PCA). The two raw materials reported enriched oils with profiles which were compared with those provided by EVOOs. Correlation analysis enabled us to establish the enriched oils with a composition more similar to EVOO. Discrimination according to the enrichment level depended on the raw material for extracts, and a global discussion about the enrichment on relevant phenolic compounds present in EVOO has reported quantitative results concerning the enrichment level for those significant compounds with known nutraceutical properties.