Determination of the Ascorbic Acid Content and the Antioxidant Activity of Different Varieties of Vegetables Consumed in Romania, from Farmers and Supermarkets

Abstract

Vitamin C sustains the health of the human organism. It reduces the risk of chronic diseases and it can help to control arterial hypertension. In addition, it prevents and reduces the risk of developing various heart diseases, it normalizes the level of uric acid in the blood, it can help with the prevention of gout attacks, it helps to prevent iron deficiency and strengthens the immune system. Considering these aspects, it can be stated that a diet rich in vitamin C plays an essential role in a person’s daily food intake. Within the present study, we identified the content of vitamin C in various types of bell peppers and tomatoes consumed in Romania. The vitamin C content was determined by using the titration and the iodometric methods. The research results pointed out that the content of vitamin C in the analyzed bell peppers is between 4.693 and 11.264 mg/ 100 g, and in the analyzed tomatoes is between 0.939 and 4.639 mg/100 g. The antioxidant activity was studied as well, by using the DPPH radical and the Trolox equivalent antioxidative capacity (TEAC). The antioxidant activity was correlated with the content of ascorbic acid, present in the samples. The studies revealed that the vegetables bought from the farmers had a higher content of vitamin C than the ones bought from the supermarkets. This aspect was also confirmed by their increased antioxidant activity, which points out that the local vegetables are a rich source of natural antioxidants, which can be used to prevent various health conditions caused by oxidative stress.

إجمالي محتويات الفينول والفلافونويد وفيتامين ج مع نشاط مضاد للأكسدة لأوراق القراص التي تنمو في زاخو ، إقليم كوردستان ، العراق

“…Külcü study revealed that both TPC and TFC of ethanol, chloroform and n-hexane extracts were much lower than our results 31 . Moreover, Vitamins are a unique class of organic substances that has important biochemical and biological functions in living cells [32][33][34] .…”

Quality Control of Tomato Products and it's Influenced by Some Technological Treatments on Reducing Pesticide Residues.

“…Additionally, treatments involving sonication, juicing after sonication, and sun-dried tomatoes fruits also exhibited increased antioxidant activity compared to the control and other treatments. These findings suggest that specific processing techniques can influence the antioxidant capacity of tomatoes fruits , potentially providing additional health benefits to consumers [52][53][54][55]. IC50 refers to the effective concentration of a substance required to produce 50% of its maximum response or effect.…”

Chemical, Aroma and Pro-Health Characteristics of Kaffir Lime Juice—The Approach Using Optimized HS-SPME-GC-TOFMS, MP-OES, 3D-FL and Physiochemical Analysis

“…Total soluble solids ( • Brix) were determined using an OPTi Digital Handheld Refractometer (Bellingham + Stanley Ltd., London, UK). Vitamin C was determined iodometrically using the procedure of Trifunschi et al [61]. All the tests were performed nine times, and the data obtained in the present investigation were subjected to statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA).…”