The effect of heat treatment on the antioxidant activity of extracts from Citrus unshiu peels was evaluated. Citrus peels (CP) (5 g) were placed in Pyrex Petri dishes (8.0 cm diameter) and heat-treated at 50, 100, or 150 degrees C for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 min in an electric muffle furnace. After heat treatment, 70% ethanol extract (EE) and water extract (WE) (0.1 g/10 mL) of CP were prepared, and total phenol contents (TPC), radical scavenging activity (RSA), and reducing power of the extracts were determined. The antioxidant activities of CP extracts increased as heating temperature increased. For example, heat treatment of CP at 150 degrees C for 60 min increased the TPC, RSA, and reducing power of EE from 71.8 to 171.0 microM, from 29.64 to 64.25%, and from 0.45 to 0.82, respectively, compared to non-heat-treated control. In the case of WE from CP heat-treated at the same conditions (150 degrees C for 60 min), the TPC, RSA, and reducing power also increased from 84.4 to 204.9 microM, from 15.81 to 58.26%, and from 0.27 to 0.96, respectively. Several low molecular weight phenolic compounds such as 2,3-diacetyl-1-phenylnaphthalene, ferulic acid, p-hydroxybenzaldoxime, 5-hydroxyvaleric acid, 2,3-diacetyl-1-phenylnaphthalene, and vanillic acid were newly formed in the CP heated at 150 degrees C for 30 min. These results indicated that the antioxidant activity of CP extracts was significantly affected by heating temperature and duration of treatment on CP and that the heating process can be used as a tool for increasing the antioxidant activity of CP.

After far-infrared (FIR) radiation onto rice hull, a methanolic extract was prepared for the determination of antioxidant ability. After 30 min of FIR treatment, the radical scavenging activity and total phenol contents of rice hull extracts increased from 47.74 to 79.63% and from 0.12 to 0.19 mM, respectively, compared to control. Inhibition of lipid peroxidation in extracts was also increased from 41.07 to 47.96%. According to the GC-MS analysis, more phenolic compounds (p-coumaric acid, 3-vinyl-1-oxybenzene, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, vanillin, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, and 4,7-dihydroxyvanillic acid) were detected in FIR-irradiated rice hull extract. These results indicated that FIR radiation onto rice hull could liberate and activate covalently bound phenolic compounds that have antioxidant activities.

No abstract

Antioxidant activities of defatted sesame meal extract increased as the roasting temperature of sesame seed increased, but the maximum antioxidant activity was achieved when the seeds were roasted at 200 °C for 60 min. Roasting sesame seeds at 200 °C for 60 min significantly increased the total phenolic content, radical scavenging activity (RSA), reducing powers, and antioxidant activity of sesame meal extract; and several low-molecularweight phenolic compounds such as 2-methoxyphenol, 4-methoxy-3-methylthio-phenol, 5-amino-3-oxo-4-hexenoic acid, 3,4-methylenedioxyphenol (sesamol), 3-hydroxy benzoic acid, 4-hydroxy benzoic acid, vanillic acid, filicinic acid, and 3,4-dimethoxy phenol were newly formed in the sesame meal after roasting sesame seeds at 200 °C for 60 min. These results indicate that antioxidant activity of defatted sesame meal extracts was significantly affected by roasting temperature and time of sesame seeds.

No abstract

The processed green tea leaves were irradiated by far-infrared (FIR) at eight temperatures (80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, and 150 degrees C) for 10 min. After FIR irradiation, green teas were prepared by soaking the leaves in boiling water, and the physicochemical characteristics of the green tea were determined. FIR irradiation at 90 degrees C increased total phenol contents of green tea from 244.7 to 368.5 mg/g and total flavanol contents from 122.0 to 178.7 mg/g, compared with non-irradiated control. FIR irradiation also significantly affected the amounts of epigallocatechin and epigallocatechin gallate. Nitrite scavenging activity also increased with increasing FIR irradiation until the temperature reached 110 degrees C. However, the overall color changes of green tea irradiated with FIR at 90 and 100 degrees C were negligible. These results indicate that the chemical quality of green tea is significantly affected by FIR irradiation temperature of the green tea leaves.

Heat treatment of persimmon peel (PP) increased the antioxidative activity of the 70% ethanolic extract (EE) and water extract (WE) from PP. EE and WE both prevented H2O2-induced DNA damage to human peripheral lymphocytes. The antioxidative and antigenotoxic activities of the PP extracts were significantly affected by heating.

To determine the effect of far-infrared (FIR) irradiation on the antioxidant activities of sesame meal, half of sesame seeds were FIR-irradiated and then oil was extracted from the seeds. The resulting defatted sesame meal (DSM) was extracted with methanol, and the antioxidant activities of methanolic extract were determined. FIR irradiation of sesame seeds for 30 min increased the total phenol content from 34.0 to 59.0 muM and radical scavenging activity of DSM extracts from 26.40 to 68.76%. The induction time of lipid oxidation of oil added to extracts was also retarded from 0.82 to 0.96 h. According to the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, several low molecular weight phenolic compounds, such as p-hydroxy benzoic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, isoferulic acid, and o-coumaric acid, were frequently detected in FIR-irradiated DSM extracts as compared to unirradiated ones. These results indicated that FIR irradiation of sesame seeds increased the antioxidant activity of methanolic extracts of DSM.