PHYTOCHEMICAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF COMMON SPICES AND THEIR MIX

Abstract

This study was aimed to assess the phytochemical and antioxidant activity of five common spices and to optimize the superior mixture of these spices. In the current study, the spices included cinnamon, cloves, timur, large cardamom and small cardamom which were bought from local markets of Dharan. These spices were steeped in 80% methanol for 12 h at room temperature. Then the extracts were filtered using Whatman No. 1 filter paper, transferred to brown bottle and stored at refrigerated temperature until analysis. The analysis was made for total phenol content, total flavonoid content, total tannin content and DPPH free radical scavenging activities. From analysis it was found that the highest phenol content was found in cinnamon (158.14 ± 1.07 mg GAE/g) and the lowest was found in small cardamom (74.70 ± 3.20 mg GAE/g) among 5 spices. Similarly, highest flavonoid content was found in cloves (337.29 ± 10.59 mg QE/g) followed by cinnamon, large cardamom, timur and small cardamom. In the same way, highest tannin content was found in cinnamon. Cinnamon extracts had the highest antioxidant activity (68.74 ± 1.56 %) and small cardamom had the lowest among 5 spices. The Spiced mixture having cinnamon 0.6 parts and other spices 0.1 parts was found to bethe optimized mixture which was significant at (p < 0.05).