TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of technological processing upon the antioxidant capacity of aromatic and medicinal plant infusions
T2 - from harvest to packaging
AU - Gião, Maria S.
AU - Pereira, Cláudia I.
AU - Pintado, Manuela E.
AU - Malcata, F. Xavier
N1 - Funding Information:
All plants studied were provided by ERVITAL. Partial funding for author MSG was via a Ph.D. fellowship (ref. SFRH/BD/19601/2004), administered by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal) and supervised by author FXM. Partial funding for research expenses was via project grant EXTRAVIDA (ref. PRIME/IDEIA 13/05/04/FDR/00020), administered by Agência de Inovação (Portugal) and scientifically coordinated by author FXM.
PY - 2013/1
Y1 - 2013/1
N2 - Antioxidants are secondary metabolites in plants, designed to protect them from abiotic stress; however, they may also improve one's general health, following regular ingestion. Since most foods from plant origin are consumed only after processing and formulation, the final activity exhibited by their antioxidants may be rather different from that in the original plant. Ten plants empirically used in Portugal in traditional medicine were accordingly studied - agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), walnut-tree (Juglans regia), myrtle (Myrtus communis), raspberry (Rubus idaeus), sage (Salvia sp.), savory (Satureja montana), sweet-amber (Hypericum androsaemum), thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium), for total antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content. Significant variations were found between fresh and frozen forms: most plants decreased those features by 30-80 %. However, weather conditions prevailing during plant growth also had a significant impact, besides postharvest storage conditions - especially in the case of antioxidant capacity. Typically, a decrease occurred throughout processing and storage, which was maximum for myrtle and minimum for yarrow. The results of this research are useful in attempts to preserve the antioxidant content of plant-derived foods, or of plant additives in foods, via rational manipulation of processing conditions after harvest and throughout storage.
AB - Antioxidants are secondary metabolites in plants, designed to protect them from abiotic stress; however, they may also improve one's general health, following regular ingestion. Since most foods from plant origin are consumed only after processing and formulation, the final activity exhibited by their antioxidants may be rather different from that in the original plant. Ten plants empirically used in Portugal in traditional medicine were accordingly studied - agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), walnut-tree (Juglans regia), myrtle (Myrtus communis), raspberry (Rubus idaeus), sage (Salvia sp.), savory (Satureja montana), sweet-amber (Hypericum androsaemum), thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium), for total antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content. Significant variations were found between fresh and frozen forms: most plants decreased those features by 30-80 %. However, weather conditions prevailing during plant growth also had a significant impact, besides postharvest storage conditions - especially in the case of antioxidant capacity. Typically, a decrease occurred throughout processing and storage, which was maximum for myrtle and minimum for yarrow. The results of this research are useful in attempts to preserve the antioxidant content of plant-derived foods, or of plant additives in foods, via rational manipulation of processing conditions after harvest and throughout storage.
KW - ABTS
KW - Fresh plant
KW - Frozen plant
KW - Packed plant
KW - Stored plant
KW - Total phenolics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84866406181&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.lwt.2012.05.007
DO - 10.1016/j.lwt.2012.05.007
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84866406181
SN - 0023-6438
VL - 50
SP - 320
EP - 325
JO - LWT - Food Science and Technology
JF - LWT - Food Science and Technology
IS - 1
ER -