11The antiradical activity, polyphenols, flavonoids and total condensed tannins contents have been determined in the case of seven local 12 edible Brassicaceae, i.e. Italian kale, broccoli, Savoy and white cabbage, cauliflower, green cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Rapid spec-13 trophotometric methods were applied. The results achieved were compared with the quali-quantitative information obtained by HPLC/ 14 DAD and HPLC/MS. The polyphenolic compounds detected were: kaempferol and quercetin glycosides and hydroxycinnamic esters. 15 The EC 50 values ranged from 81.45 to 917.81 mg sample/mg DPPH Å and the total phenolic content from 4.30 to 13.80 gallic acid equiv-16 alents (mg gallic acid/g sample). The peculiar characteristics of these vegetables can be evaluated and can increase their value as func-17 tional food. 18

The antiradical activity of dry beans was evaluated in order to assess the validity of this test and to correlate the results with those achieved with the Folin-Ciocalteu method and with a rapid spectrophotometric method for the analysis of total flavonoids. Four landraces (12 samples) of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), collected in two regions of Italy (Tuscany and Basilicata) in three different years, were analyzed. The EC50 values ranged from 39 to 2810 mg sample/mg 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil radical. The phenolic content of each sample was expressed as gallic acid equivalents; it changed from 1.17 to 4.40 mg/g. The flavonoid content, expressed as mg of (+)-catechin per g of dry seeds, ranged from 0.24 to 1.43 mg/g. The qualiquantitative composition of polyphenols has been also elucidated by means of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-diode array detection and HPLC/MS. These investigations showed that rapid tests can contribute to assessing the quality of functional food.