Betuzzi Federica, Malaspina Paola, Polito Flavio, Bottino Giovanni, De Feo Vincenzo, De Martino Laura, Cornara Laura
Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DISTAV), University of Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, Italy.
Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy.
Molecules. 2025 Sep 3;30(17):3605. doi: 10.3390/molecules30173605.
L. 'Lavagnina' is cultivated in the Eastern Ligurian coast (Italy), and during the pruning process a huge amount of pruning residues is produced. This by-product is generally disposed of by burning, despite still containing bioactive compounds. In particular, olive leaves are indeed rich in secondary metabolites, which can vary both in quality and quantity in relation to the cultivar considered and the area of cultivation. For this reason, we aimed to carry out a pharmacognostic study of the pruned leaves of the unexplored local cultivar 'Lavagnina', evaluating the possibility of reusing this by-product for new health applications. The micromorphological characterization was conducted by light and scanning electron microscopy. 'Lavagnina' leaf was micromorphologically similar to that of other olive cultivars; however, it differed in terms of midrib structure. Leaf extracts were obtained using solvents of increasing polarity (petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol) and the food-grade solvent, 70% ethanol. A high antioxidant activity was found only for the methanolic (ME) and hydroalcoholic (HAE) extracts, and, therefore, they were then characterized from a phytochemical point of view by LC-ESI-HR-MS. Such analysis allowed the identification of secondary metabolites belonging mainly to secoiridoids, flavonoids, and iridoids. Overall, the HAE had the highest antioxidant activity (17.3 ± 0.6 μg/mL), and it is, therefore, the best candidate for health applications related to a protective effect on a variety of inflammation-related diseases, also considering that inflammation may play a role in cancer progression.
“拉瓦尼纳”橄榄品种种植于意大利利古里亚海岸东部，在修剪过程中会产生大量修剪残余物。这种副产品通常被焚烧处理，尽管其仍含有生物活性化合物。特别是，橄榄叶确实富含次生代谢产物，其质量和数量会因所考虑的品种和种植区域而有所不同。因此，我们旨在对未被探索的当地品种“拉瓦尼纳”的修剪叶片进行生药学研究，评估将这种副产品重新用于新的健康应用的可能性。通过光学显微镜和扫描电子显微镜进行微观形态特征分析。“拉瓦尼纳”叶片在微观形态上与其他橄榄品种相似；然而，它在中脉结构方面有所不同。使用极性递增的溶剂（石油醚、氯仿、甲醇）和食品级溶剂70%乙醇提取叶片提取物。仅在甲醇提取物（ME）和水醇提取物（HAE）中发现了高抗氧化活性，因此，随后通过液相色谱-电喷雾-高分辨质谱从植物化学角度对它们进行了表征。这种分析能够鉴定出主要属于裂环烯醚萜类、黄酮类和环烯醚萜类的次生代谢产物。总体而言，HAE具有最高的抗氧化活性（17.3±0.6μg/mL），因此，考虑到炎症可能在癌症进展中起作用，它是与对多种炎症相关疾病具有保护作用的健康应用的最佳候选物。
