Bioelectrochemical evaluation of plant extracts and gold nanozyme-based sensors for total antioxidant capacity determination

Abstract

The antioxidant properties of different plant extracts are usually claimed and used by food, medicine and cosmetic industry due to their health promoting capacities. In this study the presence of antioxidant compounds and the total antioxidant capacity of water-soluble extracts, prepared using two extraction methods and a variety of solvents, have been determined and a rapid screening method has been developed. Plant extracts characterisation, composition and antioxidant properties were confirmed by FTIR and Raman spectroscopies. Voltammetry, amperometry and electrochemical impedance were used to highlight the total antioxidant capacity of each extract using an electrochemical gold nanozyme-sensor based on the enzyme-like catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles. Both anodic area of cyclic voltammograms (10.31 μA V) and electrochemical index (153) calculated using differential potential voltammetry show the total content of antioxidant compounds, allowing to discriminate between different extracts. Amperometric total antioxidant capacity measurements were associated with those from classical chemiluminescence and good correlation has been found (Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.958).