Croatica Chemica Acta, Vol. 79 No. 4, 2006.
Original scientific paper
Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Essential Oils of Twelve Spice Plants
Olivera Politeo
Mila Jukić
Mladen Miloš
Abstract
Chemical compositions and related total antioxidant capacities of twelve spice essential oils were analyzed. To enable a comparison of their relative antioxidant potentials, essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation from selected spice plants and their chemical compositions were determined by the GC-MS system on two fused-silica capillary columns of different polarity. Antioxidant effectiveness was examined by four different methods: the 2,2'-diphenyl- 1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method, determination of ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), determination of antioxidant activity with thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) and automatic determination of the oxidative stability of fat (RANCIMAT). Based on their antioxidant capacity, twelve spice essential oils can be sorted in descending order: Clove (Syzygium aromaticum L.) > Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) > Laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) > Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) > Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt.) > Black Pepper (Piper nigrum L.) > Everlast (Helichrysum italicum G. (Roth) Don) > Mint (Mentha piperita L.) > Marjoram (Marjorana hortensis Moench.) > Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum Nees) > Sage (Salvia officinalis L.) > Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Muller).
Keywords
spice plants; essential oils; chemical composition; GC-MS; antioxidant activity
Hrčak ID:
5761
URI
Publication date:
13.12.2006.
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