The antioxidant activity and total phenol content of seeds from four species of Apiaceae family under different storage conditions

Abstract

We aimed to assess the impacts of packaging material (PM), and storage temperature (ST) and period (SP) on the antioxidant activity (AA) and total phenol (TP) content of cumin, Black Zira, fennel, and ajowain seeds using the split-factorial method. The experiments were conducted in triplicate. The SP (either 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, or 15 months) was the main plot. The ST included either 20 ± 3°C or 30 ± 3°C, and PMs were paper, polyethylene, vacuumed aluminium, vacuum polyethylene-polyamide, and the gas compositions of 98% N2 + 2% O2 and 90% N2 + 10% O2. The results showed that the AA of fennel and ajowain seeds and the TP of all of the species decreased with increasing storage period. The AA and TP content of fennel and ajowain were higher at 30 ± 3°C compared to 20 ± 3°C, but cumin and Black Zira contained higher TP content and AA at 20 ± 3°C. Overall, appropriate PMs to maintain the AA and TP content of the seeds during storage were dependent on the plants species.