Pharmaceutical Crops

2013, 4 : 15-20
Published online 2013 October 31. DOI: 10.2174/2210290601304010015
Publisher ID: TOPHARMCJ-4-15

Culinary Decoctions: Spectrophotometric Determination of Various Polyphenols Coupled with their Antioxidant Activities

Fatiha El Babili , Mohammed E.L. Babili , Jean-Pierre Souchard and Christian Chatelain
Laboratoire de Botanique, Faculte de Pharmacie, Universite de Toulouse, 118 Route de Narbonne, F- 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France.

ABSTRACT

The aqueous extracts of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Miller), olive (Olea europaea L.), sage (Salvia officinalis L.), thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.), wild thyme (T. serpyllum L.), tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze), and verbena (Verbena officinalis L.) were investigated for polyphenol, tannins, antocyanins and flavonoids. Among the nine culinary herbs, tea and wild thyme extracts contained the higher phenol content of 874.10 ± 3.50 GAE [g gallic acid equivalents/Kg (dry wt.) extract] and 945.70 ± 0.81 GAE, respectively, while the fennel extract contained the lowest content at 149.90 ± 1.16 GAE. Sage and verbena extracts do not contain any anthocyanins and have low levels of tannins (2.40 ± 0.12 and 1.97± 0.06 CE, respectively). Tea rich in tannins and verbena and sage, totally devoid of anthocyanins, have higher antioxidant activities according to the ABTS/DPPH assays. However, the results fail to show any positive correlation between phenol contents and antioxidant activities.

Keywords:

Culinary herbs, polyphenols, anthocyanins.