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Changes in beneficial bioactive compounds in eight traditional herbal liqueurs during a one‐month maceration process
Author(s) -
Senica Mateja,
MikulicPetkovsek Maja
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.10044
Subject(s) - maceration (sewage) , chemistry , traditional medicine , kaempferol , sage , quercetin , food science , antioxidant , organic chemistry , medicine , materials science , physics , nuclear physics , composite material
BACKGROUND Herbs are rich in various beneficial bioactive compounds and they can be used for many different purposes. One of the most common is maceration of herbs in alcohol. Different substances respond differently to extraction in prepared solutions. It is very important to enhance the highest proportion of beneficial ingredients during the maceration process in a herbal liqueur. A comparative analysis of numerous different phenolic compounds from eight of the most frequently used herbs for making aperitifs in Europe was performed. RESULTS In the comparison among all studied herbs, the highest phenolic content was found with Artemisia absinthium (wormwood) (14.61 mg g −1 ) and Mentha piperita (peppermint) (13.89 mg g −1 ), while the lowest content was found with Centaurium erythraea (common centaury) (3.96 mg g −1 ). Salvianolic acid isomers and caffeic acid derivatives were the greatest contributors to the total phenolic content in lemon balm, wormwood, peppermint, fennel and sage. These compounds contain more hydroxyl groups and they were better extracted at the beginning of the maceration process. Caraway and common centaury contain more flavonols (quercetin and kaempferol derivatives), with higher chemical stability and fewer hydroxyl groups in their structure. CONCLUSION The compositions of eight herbal liqueurs were highly related to the presence of different herbal ingredients and their solubility in the extract over time. Most flavonol derivatives were extracted over a longer time and the two liqueurs (common centaury and caraway) therefore had the highest phenolic contents after 3 weeks of maceration. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry