Determination of chemical composition and antioxidant activities of some spices consumed in Turkey

Free radicals are necessary for life but they are linked to most of diseases. Antioxidants are the molecules that prevent the free radicals grabing electron and cousing damage. fruits and vegetables are the natural antioxidant sources. Spices are famous with their flavorable feature but in the recent years the antioxidant characterisitic of spices are proved by researchers. Black pepper, scaley pepper and thyme are the examples of antioxidant sources that are reported in the previous researches.The purpose of this work is the determination of the antioxidant activity and chemical structure of some spices in Turkey. İn this study, safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), Cardamom (Eletteria Cardamomum), Sumac (Rhus Coriaria L.) and Tarragon (Artemisia dranculus) are selected for determination of antioxidant capacity. The antioxidant activity of water, methanol and ethanol extracts of these spices are determined. The methods are used for this purpose are; 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl radical scavenging (DPPH) assay, the trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay and the cupric reducing antioxidant power (CUPRAC) assay. According to results; DPPH method show that, according to the α-tocopherol as the standart, all of the ethanol and methanol extract of spices, except of methanol extract of tarragon, have the lowest antioxidant activity. DPPH assay also identifies that the water and ethanol/water (1:1, 1:4) extracts of spices Show the highest antioxidant activity. The best solvent for spices extracts is ethanol in the TEAC assay and in the all of extracts Cardamom and Sumac show the highest antioxidant activity. According to the results, tarragon has the highest cupric reducing antioxidant power.In this study, the present of benzoic acid is proved in the ethanol/water (1:1) extrract of the safflower by the UPLC. Furthermore, 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic acid, vanilin and ferullik acid are present in the all of tarragon extracts with different amounts. Key Words: (DPPH; TEAC; CUPRAC; UPLC; Spices)