Production of Hydroxytyrosol From Olive Oil Vegetation Waters

Hydroxytyrosol, a polyphenolic compound of chemical and biological interest, present as the main polyphenol in olive oil vegetation waters (VW), was purified from VW by means of a chromatographic method based on three steps. The compound was identified by UV, IR, H-1- and C-13-NMR and EIMS. Its preparation from a natural source, as VW, for laboratory use (analytical and biological studies, for example) is convenient from an economic and ecological point of view. The compound, labile in air and light, was transformed into the more stable triacetyl derivative, which was characterized by spectroscopic analysis, using the techniques mentioned above.