Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activity of Clove (Syzygium aromaticum L.) as Affected by Various Moisture Levels

摘要

Moisture content in a plant matrix is an important factor as the nature of phyto-constituents present in spices may be altered by the presence of moisture. The present study was conducted to observe the effect of moisture levels viz. 5 % moisture level (more than normal), 10 % moisture level (more than normal) and normal moisture level (control) on phyto-constituents and antioxidant activities of clove buds. Contents of total phenols, flavonoids, sugars, DPPH free radical scavenging activity and antioxidant activity decreased under the influence of moisture conditions during storage. The contents of total phenols in samples with 10 % and 5 % and normal moisture level after 64 days of storage were 70.89, 73.76 and 96.07 mg GAE/g, flavonoids (21.02, 23.37 & 38.24 mg CE/g), total sugars (12.73, 13.88 23.01 mg/g), reducing sugars (12.59, 13.73 and 22.77 mg/g), non-reducing sugars (0.14, 0.15 and 0.24 mg/g), IC_(50) values from DPPH free radical scavenging activity (253.0, 231.7 and 124.9 μg/mL) and antioxidant activity (51.05, 55.19 and 84.67 %). The contents of various phytochemicals and antioxidant activity decreased more at 10 % moisture level in comparison to 5 % moisture level.