Determination of polyphenolic compounds of carob powder

Rogač je široko rasprostranjena biljka na Mediteranu čiji plod (Ceratonia siliqua L.) je bogat fenolima kojima se pripisuje visoka antioksidativna aktivnost. Cilj ovog rada bio je odrediti količinu fenolnih spojeva (ukupnih fenola i flavan-3-ola) te antioksidacijski kapacit u prahu rogača. Određivanje ukupnih fenola i flavan-3-ola provedeno je spektrofotometrijskim metodama, a određivanje antioksidativnog kapaciteta primjenom tzv. „ Ferric reducing antioxidant power“ (FRAP) metode. Ekstrakcija je provedena primjenom tri otapala: 80%-tni etanol, aceton, acetonitril, kako bi utvrdili kojim otapalom se postiže najbolji ekstrakcijski kapacitet. Primjenom etanola kao otapala, postiže se najveći ekstrakcijski kapacitet izolacije fenola, dok je aceton najučinkovitije otapalo za ekstrakciju flavan-3-ola. U etanolnom ekstraktu određen je najveći antioksidacijski kapacitet kao i koncentracija ukupnih fenola, što znači da su u dobroj međusobnoj povezanosti.Carob is a widely spread plant in the Mediterranean area, whose fruit (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is rich in phenols which is attributed to the high antioxidant activity. The aim of this work was to determine the amount of phenolic compounds (total phenols and flavan – 3 – ols) as well as the antioxidant capacity in carob powder. The determination of total phenols and flavan – 3 – ols was conducted by spectrophotometric methods, whilst the determination of antioxidant capacity was done by adopting the so called “ferric reducing antioxidant power” (FRAP) method. Extraction was executed by applying three solvents: 80% ethanol, acetone, acetonitrile, in order to determine which solvent achieves the best extraction capacity. The best extraction capacity in determination of phenol was achieved by applying ethanol as solvent, while acetone is the most effective solvent for extraction of the flavan – 3 – ols. The etanol extract was determined by the highest antioxidant capacity and total phenol concentration, which means that they are in good mutual relationship