Microdialysis as a New Technique for Extracting Phenolic Compounds from Extra Virgin Olive Oil

The amount and composition of the phenolic components play a major role in determining the quality of olive oil. The traditional liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) method requires a time-consuming sample preparation to obtain the "phenolic profile" of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). This study aimed to develop a microdialysis extraction (MDE) as an alternative to the LLE method to evaluate the phenolic components of EVOO. To this purpose, a microdialysis device and dialysis procedure were developed. "Dynamic-oil" microdialysis was performed using an extracting solution (80:20 methanol/water) flow rate of 2 μL min-1 and a constant EVOO stream of 4 μL min-1. The results indicated a strong positive correlation between MDE and the LLE method, providing a very similar phenolic profile obtained with traditional LLE. In conclusion, the MDE approach, easier and quicker in comparison to LLE, provided a reliable procedure to determine the phenolic components used as a marker of the quality and traceability of EVOO.