Ultrasound-assisted emulsification–microextraction for the determination of phenolic compounds in olive oils

A reliable, sensitive and effective method based on ultrasound-assisted emulsification–microextraction (USAEME) coupled to HPLC-DAD has been developed to identify and quantify several target phenolic compounds from extra virgin olive oils (EVOO). This approach is based on the emulsification of a microvolume of polar organic extractant in a non-polar liquid sample by ultrasound radiation and further separation of both liquid phases by centrifugation. The percentage of methanol/water (v/v) in the extractant, the volume of extractant, and the extraction time as three effective parameters on the extraction were optimised by a central composite design (Box–Behnken response surface) method. The optimised method presented recoveries in EVOO between 91% and 115% for the target analytes (except vanillin with 65%) and a satisfactory precision with relative standard deviations (RSD%) lower than 8.4% for repeatability and reproducibility. The method showed good linearity and limits of detection and quantification were in the range 0.001–0.14 and 0.004–0.47 mg/kg, respectively. After method validation, it was successfully applied to the analysis of three EVOO samples. All target compounds were detected in all analysed samples. Tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol were the major phenolic compounds, followed by pinoresinol and luteolin.