Phenylethanoids

Hydroxytyrosol is an organic compound with the formula . It is a phenylethanoid, i.e. a relative of phenethyl alcohol. Its derivatives are found in a variety of natural sources, notably olive oils and wines. Hydroxytyrosol is a colorless solid, although samples often turn beige during storage. It is a derivative, formally speaking, of catechol.

chemical compound

Oleuropein is a glycosylated seco-iridoid, a bitter phenolic compound found in green olive skin, flesh, seeds, and leaves. The term oleuropein is derived from the botanical name of the olive tree, Olea europaea.

Tyrosol is an organic compound with the formula . Classified as a phenylethanoid, a derivative of phenethyl alcohol, it is found in a variety of natural sources. The compound is colorless solid. The principal source in the human diet is olive oil.

Oleocanthal is a phenylethanoid, or a type of natural phenolic compound found in extra-virgin olive oil. It appears to be responsible for the burning sensation that occurs in the back of the throat when consuming such oil. Oleocanthal is a tyrosol ester and its chemical structure is related to oleuropein, also found in olive oil.

Verbascoside is a polyphenol glycoside in which the phenylpropanoid caffeic acid and the phenylethanoid hydroxytyrosol form an ester and an ether bond respectively, to the rhamnose part of a disaccharide, namely β-(3′,4′-dihydroxyphenyl)ethyl-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1→3)-β-D-(4-O-caffeoyl)-glucopyranoside.

Salidroside (rhodioloside) is a glucoside of tyrosol found in the plant Rhodiola rosea. It has been studied, along with rosavin, as one of the potential compounds responsible for the putative antidepressant and anxiolytic actions of this plant. Salidroside may be more active than rosavin, even though many commercially marketed Rhodiola rosea extracts are standardized for rosavin content rather than salidroside.

Echinacoside is a natural phenol. It is a caffeic acid glycoside from the phenylpropanoid class. It is constituted from a trisaccharide consisting of two glucose and one rhamnose moieties glycosidically linked to one caffeic acid and one dihydroxyphenylethanol (hydroxytyrosol) residue at the centrally situated rhamnose. This water-soluble glycoside is a distinctive secondary metabolite of Echinacea angustifolia and Echinacea pallida (to about 1%) but only occurs in trace amounts in Echinacea purpurea. It is also isolated from Cistanche spp.

thumb|right|Tyrosol, a simple phenylethanoid. Phenylethanoids are a type of phenolic compounds characterized by a phenethyl alcohol structure. Tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol are examples of such compounds.