Antioxidant Activity of the Aqueous Extracts of Spicy Food Additives—Evaluation and Comparison with Ascorbic Acid in In Vitro Systems

Abstract

The antioxidant activity of the aqueous extracts of five umbelliferous fruits--caraway (Carum carvi), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), cumin (Cuminum cyminum), dill (Anethum graveolens) and fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)--were investigated in comparison with the known antioxidant ascorbic acid in in vitro studies. The amount of aqueous extract of these five umbelliferous fruits and ascorbic acid needed for 50% scavenging of superoxide radicals was found to be 105 microg (caraway), 370 microg (coriander), 220 microg (cumin), 190 microg (dill), 205 microg (fennel) and 260 microg (ascorbic acid). The amount needed for 50% inhibition of lipid peroxide was 2100 microg (caraway), 4500 microg (coriander), 4300 microg (cumin), 3100 microg (dill), 4600 microg (fennel) and 5000 microg (ascorbic acid). The quantity needed for 50% inhibition of hydroxyl radicals was 1150 microg (caraway), 1250 microg (coriander), 470 microg (cumin), 575 microg (dill), 700 microg (fennel) and 4500 microg (ascorbic acid). The daily use of the above fruits in various forms is very common in India and the present study revealed strong antioxidant activity of their extracts that was superior to known antioxidant ascorbic acid and indicate their intake may be beneficial as food additives.

Cuminum cyminumextract attenuates scopolamine-induced memory loss and stress-induced urinary biochemical changes in rats: A noninvasive biochemical approach

“…Experimental studies have shown that cumin possesses antimicrobial (Agnihotri & Vaidya, 1996;Singh et al, 2002), anticarcinogenic (Aruna & Sivaramakrishnan, 1992;Gagandeep et al, 2003), antidiabetic (Dhandapani et al, 2002;Sushruta et al, 2006), anti-inflammatory (Srivastava, 1989;Shivakumar et al, 2010), antioxidant (Saito et al, 1976;Huang et al, 1981;Satyanarayana et al, 2004), antinociceptive (Sayyah et al, 2002), antitussive (Boskabady et al, 2006), antiepilepsy (Khatibi et al, 2008), hypocholesterolemic (Shirke & Jagtap, 2009), antifungal (Pai et al, 2010) properties, and improves chick production in poultry industry (Al-Kassi, 2010).…”

“…Previously published reports have concluded that the antistress activity of some of the potential medicinal plants could be attributed to their antioxidant effects (Bhattacharya et al, 2001;Satyanarayana et al, 2004;Sreemantula et al, 2005). Based on these reports, the antioxidant activity of cumin extract was also done using in vitro lipid peroxidation assay in brain and liver homogenates of rat.…”

Antioxidants, Free Radicals Scavenging and Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitory Potentials of Ajuga iva L. Extracts.

“…This may be explained by the interaction of the different flavonoids [61] , and/or other compound present in the extracts which are in transition metals [62] . It is reported that the terpenoids and flavonoids having glycosidic linkage are likely to be extracted into aqueous extracts [63] . The compounds containing nitrogen are generally more powerful chelating than phenolic compounds [64] .…”

The use of medicinal herbs in gynecological and pregnancy-related disorders by Jordanian women: a review of folkloric practice vs. evidence-based pharmacology

“…Antioxidant (Satyanarayana et al 2004) and antibacterial activity of its essential oil (Iacobellis et al 2005;Lixandru et al 2010). Potential anticancer activity in neuroblastoma cell line (Aydin et al 2013).…”