ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF WINTER SLAVONIAN GARLIC (Allium sativum L.)

Abstract

Numerous studies conducted on garlic (Allium sativum L.), have proved the presence of antioxidants, phenolic compounds, sulfur compounds and several vitamins. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in the content of total phenols, ascorbic acid; total antioxidant activities of four winter Slavonian garlic cultivars, as well as establishment of correlations between these parameters. The total antioxidant activity and the content of ascorbic acid and total phenols in four cultivars of winter Slavonian garlic were spectrophotometrically determined. Genetic diversity of winter Slavonian garlic cultivars significantly affected the content of ascorbic acid and the total antioxidant activity. The total antioxidant activity significantly positively correlated with the content of ascorbic acid (r2 = 0.64, p = 0.006), while the content of total phenols and total antioxidant activity were not significantly related. Cultivar PFO 1 had the highest antioxidant activity (8.006 μmol Trolox /g FW) and the highest ascorbic acid content (8.57 mg /100 g FW), thus, the best quality of the four tested garlic cultivars.

Keywords

• Slavonian garlic cultivars
• antioxidant activities
• total phenols
• ascorbic acid