A novel methodology for direct esterification of olives optimized through design of experiments

A novel methodology was proposed, and optimized using the Design Expert software, aiming to enable characterization of the fatty acid profile of olives whilst abolishing the lipid extraction step. Furthermore, the proposed method was proven more efficient whereas requiring less time, and sample and solvent amounts, consequently improving process yield. Optimum conditions obtained after experimental design were as follows: sonication temperature and time of 60 ºC and 8 minutes, respectively, and concentrations for alkaline and acid reactions of 0.70 and 1.5 mol L-1, respectively. Total fatty acid content for olive sample was 172.0 mg g-1, the predicted value was and is in the coefficient of variation range of 11.52%