THE EFFECT OF PICKLING ON TOTAL PHENOLIC CONTENTS AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF 10 VEGETABLES

Epidemiological evidence suggests the critical role of vegetable consumption in preventing chronic degenerative diseases. Considering that pickle is a widely consumption type of vegetable in Turkish diet the objective of the present study was to assess the total phenol content and antioxidant capacity of pickled vegetables. For this purpose total antioxidant capacity of 10 fresh and pickled vegetables was analysed by DPPH (2,20-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl) radical scavenging activity and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) methods and total phenolic content (TPC) using Folin–Ciocalteu reagent. Following the pickling in 15 th day there was a significant (P<0.05) decrease in TPC of all vegetables, in contrast this TPC increased significantly after 30 th day. Also at 60 th day of pickling the TEAC values of all vegetables are increased significantly (P<0.05), but DPPH values of green pepper, cauliflower, cucumber and sneak melon decreased compared with fresh state. Our findings suggest that, pickling process is relatively a good method for the preservation of phenolic acids in vegetables, and most of the antioxidant capacities remained after 30 th day of fermentation.