Abstract

ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF ORGANIC AND CONVENTIONAL CLOVE (SYZYGIUMAROMATICUM) AND CINNAMON (CINNAMOMUM ZEYLANICUM)

Viraj Roghelia* and V. H. Patel

ABSTRACT

Spices are widely used for various culinary preparations in India and worldwide. Nowadays, spices are also popular for their antioxidants and other medicinal properties such as antimicrobial, antidiabetic, antiallergic, antimutagenic, antiulcerogenic, antipyretic, antianaesthetic, antispasmodic and carminative activities. Antioxidants prevent a specific action of initiation, propagation and oxidizing chain reaction. In the present study, organic and conventional cinnamon and clove were studied for total phenol, flavonoids and antioxidant capacity using standard methods. Results indicated that organic cinnamon contained higher content of total phenol, flavonoid, DPPHRSA and FRAP as compared to conventional cinnamon. Similar results were observed for clove except FRAP as FRAP content of conventional clove was found to be higher. Regression analysis revealed that antioxidant capacity of organic spices could be due to their flavonoid content. Hence, the study concludes that organic spices could be a better source of dietary antioxidants.

Keywords: Antioxidant, organic, conventional, clove and cinnamon.