Investigating the antioxidant potential of Turkish herbs and spices
Main Article Content
Keywords
antioxidants, flavonoids, phenolics, herbs, spices
Abstract
Herbs and spices have been used for many purposes including medicine, flavourings, and preservatives, etc. Constituents of herbs and spices can function as natural antioxidants and thus improve human nutrition and health. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the total phenolic and flavonoid contents of 35 different Turkish herbs and spices and to determine their antioxidant activity. Total phenolics, flavonoids, and total antioxidant capacities were analysed by four different methods: 2,2’-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) assay. The correlation coefficients (R2) between spectrophotometric assays were calculated. Wide variation in total phenolics (TP; 0.36-104 mg GAE/g), flavonoids (TF; 0.44-53.7 mg CE/g) and antioxidant capacity (TAC; 0.88-1007 mg trolox equivalent/g) was observed. Clove (Eugenia caryophyllata), yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) showed the highest TP, TF and TAC values, respectively, whereas mahaleb (Prunus mahaleb) showed the lowest TP and TAC. The relationships between TP, TF and TAC generally indicated a weak correlation, ranging from R2=0.163 (between ABTS and CUPRAC) to R2=0.760 (between FRAP and CUPRAC). This study provides direct comparative data on TP, TF and TAC of the 35 commonly consumed herbs and spices in Turkey.
References
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Shan, B., Cai, Y.Z., Sun, M. and Corke, H., 2005. Antioxidant capacity of 26 spice extracts and characterization of their phenolic constituents. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 53: 7749-7759.
Spanos, G.A. and Wrolstad, R.E., 1990. Influence of processing and storage on the phenolic composition of Thompson Seedless grape juice. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 38: 1565-1571.
Su, L., Yin, J.J., Charles, D., Zhou, K., Moore, J. and Yu, L., 2007. Total phenolic contents, chelating capacities, and radical-scavenging properties of black peppercorn, nutmeg, rosehip, cinnamon and oregano leaf. Food Chemistry 100: 990-997.
Wangensteen, H., Samuelsen, A.B. and Malterud, K.E., 2004. Antioxidant activity in extracts from coriander. Food Chemistry 88: 293-297.
Wojdylo, A., Oszmianski, J. and Czemerys, R., 2007. Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds in 32 selected herbs. Food Chemistry 105: 940-949.
Yanishlieva, N.V., Marinova, E. and Pokorny, J., 2006. Natural antioxidants from herbs and spices. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology 108: 776-793.
Yi, W. and Wetzstein, H.Y., 2011. Anti-tumorigenic activity of five culinary and medicinal herbs grown under greenhouse conditions and their combination effects. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 91: 1849-1854.
Zheng, W. and Wang, S.Y., 2001. Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds in selected herbs. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 49: 5165-5170.
Apak, R., Guclu, K., Ozyurek, M. and Karademir, S.E., 2004. Novel total antioxidant capacity index for dietary polyphenols and vitamins C and E, using their cupric ion reducing capability in the presence of neocuproine: CUPRAC method. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry52: 7970-7981.
Benedek, B., Gjoncaj, N., Saukel, J. and Kopp, B., 2007. Distribution of phenolic compounds in Middleeuropean taxa of the Achillea millefolium L. aggregate. Chemistry and Biodiversity 4: 849-857.
Benzie, I.F.F. and Strain, J.J., 1996. The ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) as a measure of ‘antioxidant power’: the FRAP assay. Analitical Biochemistry 239: 70-76.
Bino, R.J., De Vos, C.H.R., Lieberman, M., Hall, R.D., Bovy, A., Jonker, H.H., Tikunov, Y., Lommen, A., Moco, S. and Levin, I., 2005. The light-hyperresponsive high pigment-2dg mutation of tomato: alterations in the fruit metabolome. New Phytologist 166: 427-438.
Cai, Y., Luo, Q., Sun, M. and Corke, H., 2004. Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of 112 traditional Chinese medicinal plants associated with anticancer. Life Sciences74: 2157-2184.
Capanoglu, E., Beekwilder, J., Boyacioglu, D., Hall, R. and De Vos, R., 2008. Changes in antioxidant and metabolite profiles during production of tomato paste. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 56: 964-973.
Djeridane, A., Yousfi, M., Nadjemi, B., Boutassouna, D., Stocker, P. and Vidal, N., 2006. Antioxidant activity of some algerian medicinal plants extracts containing phenolic compounds. Food Chemistry 97: 654-660.
Dragland, S., Senoo, H., Wake, K., Holte, K. and Blomhoff, R., 2003. Several culinary and medicinal herbs are important sources of dietary antioxidants. Journal of Nutrition 133: 1286-1290.
Dudonne, S., Vitrac, X., Coutiere, P., Woillez, M. and Merillon, J.M., 2009. Comparative study of antioxidant properties and total phenolic content of 30 plant extracts of industrial interest using DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, SOD, and ORAC assays. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57: 1768-1774.
Ercisli, S. and Orhan, E., 2007. Chemical composition of white (Morus alba), red (Morus rubra) and black (Morus nigra) mulberry fruits. Food Chemistry 103: 1380-1384.
Esiyok, D., Otles, S. and Akcicek, E., 2004. Herbs as a food source in Turkey. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 5: 334-339.
Gulcin, I., Sat, I.G., Beydemir, S., Elmastas, M. and Kufrevioglu, O.I., 2004. Comparison of antioxidant activity of clove (Eugenia caryophylata Thunb) buds and lavender (Lavandula stoechas L.). Food Chemistry 87: 393-400.
Hinneburg, I., Damien Dorman, H.J. and Hiltunen, R., 2006. Antioxidant activities of extracts from selected culinary herbs and spices. Food Chemistry 97: 122-129.
Hossain, M.B., Brunton, N.P., Barry-Ryana, C., Martin-Dianaa, A.B. and Wilkinson, M., 2008. Antioxidant activity of spice extracts and phenolics in comparison to synthetic antioxidants. Rasayan Journal of Chemistry 1: 751-756.
Javanmardia, J., Stushnoff, C., Lockeb, E. and Vivanco, J.M., 2003. Antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of Iranian Ocimum accessions. Food Chemistry 83: 547-550.
Jayakumar, R. and Kanthimathi, M.S., 2012. Dietary spices protect against hydrogen peroxide-induced DNA damage and inhibit nicotine-induced cancer cell migration. Food Chemistry 134: 1580-1584.
Koca, I. and Karadeniz, B., 2009. Antioxidant properties of blackberry and blueberry fruits grown in the black sea region of Turkey. Scientia Horticturae 121: 447-450.
Konczak, I., Zabaras, D., Dunstan, M. and Aguas, P., 2010. Antioxidant capacity and phenolic compounds in commercially grown native Australian herbs and spices. Food Chemistry 122: 260-266.
Kumaran, A. and Karunakaran, R., 2006. Antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity of an aqueous extract of Coleus aromaticus. Food Chemistry 97: 109-114.
Miliauskas, G., Venskutonis, P.R. and Van Beek, T.A., 2004. Screening of radical scavenging activity of some medicinal and aromatic plant extracts. Food Chemistry 85: 231-237.
Miller, N. and Rice-Evans, C., 1997. Factors influencing the antioxidant activity determined by the ABTS.+ radical cation assay. Free Radical Research 26: 195-199.
Niciforovic, N., Mihailovic, V., Maskovic, P., Solujic, S., Stojkovic, A. and Pavlovic Muratspahic, D., 2010. Antioxidant activity of selected plant species; potential new sources of natural antioxidants. Food and Chemical Toxicology 48: 3125-3130.
Otles, S. and Selek, I., 2012. Effect of processing on the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of chestnuts. Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods 4: e3-e11.
Pannala, A.S., Chan, T.S., O’Brien, P.J. and Rice-Evans, C.A., 2001. Flavonoid B-ring chemistry and antioxidant activity: fast reaction kinetics. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications282: 1161-1168.
Pietta, P., Simonetti, P. and Mauri, P., 1998. Antioxidant activity of selected medicinal plants. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 46: 4487-4490.
Proestos, C., Lytoudi, K., Mavromelanidou, O.K., Zoumpoulakis, P. and Sinanoglou, V.J., 2013. Antioxidant capacity of selected plant extracts and their essential oils. Antioxidants 2: 11-22.
Rodriguez Vaquero, M.J., Tomassini Serravalle, L.R., Manca de Nadra, M.C. and Strasser de Saad, A.M., 2010. Antioxidant capacity and antibacterial activity of phenolic compounds from Argentinean herbs infusions. Food Control 21: 779-785.
Shan, B., Cai, Y.Z., Sun, M. and Corke, H., 2005. Antioxidant capacity of 26 spice extracts and characterization of their phenolic constituents. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 53: 7749-7759.
Spanos, G.A. and Wrolstad, R.E., 1990. Influence of processing and storage on the phenolic composition of Thompson Seedless grape juice. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 38: 1565-1571.
Su, L., Yin, J.J., Charles, D., Zhou, K., Moore, J. and Yu, L., 2007. Total phenolic contents, chelating capacities, and radical-scavenging properties of black peppercorn, nutmeg, rosehip, cinnamon and oregano leaf. Food Chemistry 100: 990-997.
Wangensteen, H., Samuelsen, A.B. and Malterud, K.E., 2004. Antioxidant activity in extracts from coriander. Food Chemistry 88: 293-297.
Wojdylo, A., Oszmianski, J. and Czemerys, R., 2007. Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds in 32 selected herbs. Food Chemistry 105: 940-949.
Yanishlieva, N.V., Marinova, E. and Pokorny, J., 2006. Natural antioxidants from herbs and spices. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology 108: 776-793.
Yi, W. and Wetzstein, H.Y., 2011. Anti-tumorigenic activity of five culinary and medicinal herbs grown under greenhouse conditions and their combination effects. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 91: 1849-1854.
Zheng, W. and Wang, S.Y., 2001. Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds in selected herbs. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 49: 5165-5170.