Abstract
The antioxidant activities and total phenolic content of 4 cereals (buckwheat, barley, wheat and oat) and 4 legume seeds (faba bean, azuki bean, soybean and mung bean) were determined. The total phenolic content (TPC), determined according to the Folin-Ciocalteu method, for cereal samples varied from 15.4 to 52.5 mg Gallic acid equivalent/g of dried extract, while for legume samples varied from 19.1 to 23.8 mg Gallic acid equivalent/g of dried extract. Antioxidant activities were comparatively assessed by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging capacity, ferric ion-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method. The tested plant extracts showed promising antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity, thus justifying their traditional use. Among examined cereals all the applied methods, except TBA method, have shown that buckwheat have the highest antioxidant activity, while among examined legumes results varied depending on the method used.
Highlights
Cereals and legumes are an important source of macronutrients
Cereal grains are rich in phenolicacids phytosterines, saponins and phytoestrogens and flavonoids are present in small quantities (Senter et al, 1983)
The compounds 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), Thiobarbituric Acid (TBA) and Gallic acid were purchased from SUNSON (Beijing China), FolinCiocalteu reagents was purchased from Merck and Co
Summary
Legumes are rich and economical source of proteins, complex carbohydrates (dietary fiber), minerals and vitamins, while cereal grains provide significant quantities of carbohydrates, proteins and selected micronutrients to the animal and human diet (Shahidi, 2009). Those plants contain a wide range of chemical classes with antioxidant activity (Amarowicz et al, 2004; Mohd Zin et al, 2007; Strazzullo et al, 2007). It has been suggested that these antioxidants may contribute to the health benefits of cereal-based foods in reducing the incidence of aging-related chronic diseases including heart diseases and some types of cancer (Miller et al, 2000). The chemical composition and bioavailability of nutrients varies between species and varieties of plants and may be affected by forms of processing as feed and food (Johnson et al, 2013; Luo and Xie, 2012)
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