Phenolic compounds present in extra virgin olive oil have recently attracted considerable attention due to their pharmacological activities. Among them oleacein (3,4-DHPEA-EDA), structurally related to oleochantal (4-HPEA-EDA), is one of the most studied. 3,4-DHPEA-EDA has been synthesized through decarboxylation of demethyloleuropein catalyzed by Er(OTf)3. Demethyloleuropein is extracted from black olives drupes in very limited amounts and only in particular periods of the year. The availability of demethyloleuropein could be increased by a selective hydrolysis of the methyl ester moiety of oleuropein, a secoiridoid present in large amount in olive leaves. In this work we describe a new enzymatic method for carrying out a selective hydrolysis of oleuropein via the screening of a panel of hydrolases (lipases, esterases and proteases). Among all the enzymes tested the best results was obtained using α-chymotrypsyn from bovine pancreas as biocatalyst, thus revealing a classic example of catalytic enzyme promiscuity.

中文翻译：

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水解酶介导的橄榄苦苷向去甲基橄榄苦苷的转化。

由于其药理活性，特级初榨橄榄油中存在的酚类化合物最近引起了相当大的关注。其中与油酸 (4-HPEA-EDA) 结构相关的油精 (3,4-DHPEA-EDA) 是研究最多的一种。3,4-DHPEA-EDA 是通过 Er(OTf)3 催化脱甲基橄榄苦苷脱羧合成的。去甲基橄榄苦苷是从黑橄榄核果中提取的，数量非常有限，并且仅在一年中的特定时期提取。橄榄苦苷甲酯部分的选择性水解可以增加去甲基橄榄苦苷的可用性，橄榄苦苷是一种大量存在于橄榄叶中的类环烯醚萜苷。在这项工作中，我们描述了一种新的酶促方法，用于通过筛选一组水解酶（脂肪酶、酯酶和蛋白酶）来进行橄榄苦苷的选择性水解。