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Evaluation of antioxidant capacity of some fruit and vegetable foods: efficiency of extraction of a sequence of solvents
Author(s) -
Pellegrini Nicoletta,
Colombi Barbara,
Salvatore Sara,
Brenna Oreste V,
Galaverna Gianni,
Del Rio Daniele,
Bianchi Marta,
Bennett Richard N,
Brighenti Furio
Publication year - 2006
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.2682
Subject(s) - acetone , trolox , chemistry , extraction (chemistry) , chloroform , antioxidant , spinach , solvent , trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity , food science , chromatography , carotenoid , orange (colour) , antioxidant capacity , organic chemistry , biochemistry
All methods for assessing the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of food samples are strongly affected by the solvents used during extraction. In recent years a sequential solvent extraction procedure utilising water and acetone has been widely used for TAC measurements of foods. To better understand the efficiency of this procedure in terms of the amount of extracted antioxidants and the subsequent measurement of TAC, two vegetables (onion and spinach) and two fruits (orange and tomato) were sequentially extracted with water, acetone and chloroform. Each extract fraction was analysed separately for its content of known antioxidant compounds by specific procedures and for its TAC by the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity assay. The results showed that the compounds in the water and acetone extracts were the main contributors to TAC. The chloroform extracts did not contribute to TAC, with the exception of the spinach extract, owing to the presence of low levels of carotenoids. In conclusion, the analysed extraction procedure was more effective for foods rich in water‐soluble antioxidants than for those rich in lipid‐soluble antioxidants. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry