Sample Preparation
Samples of olive leaves (Olea europaea L.) from four sicilian varieties namely ‘Biancolilla’, ‘Coratina’, ‘Nocellara’, and ‘San Benedettese’ were employed. The leaves were collected at the same time, during pruning period, from Sicilian organic farming.
The extract was obtained in accordance to Lee-Huang et al. (2003) method with some modifications. Briefly, sicilian olive leaves (OLEs), previously dehydrated at 40°C, were extracted by an aqueous solvent, 100 mL of hot water was employed for the extraction of 5 g of leaves. Subsequently, the samples were stored in the dark.