Antioxidant Activities of Nine Selected Culinary Spices from China

The antioxidant activities and the total phenolic contents of the water and/or ethanol extracts of the nine selected culinary spices from China were systematically investigated. Both ethanol extracts and water extracts had high ability of 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, 2, 2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). The ethanol extract of Sichuan pepper showed the highest ability of DPPH radical scavenging. The extract with the highest ABTS radical scavenging effect was that of ethanol extract of cinnamon. Both ethanol and water extracts of cinnamon possessed the high ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) with the values of 4 541.87 and 1 134.52 µmol of Fe (II)/g. The extracts with high hydroxyl radical-mediated deoxyribose degradation were all the ethanol extracts as follows: cinnamon, bay leaf, Sichuan pepper, star anise and fennel. The extracts with high antioxidant activities also had the high contents of the phenols. The study indicated that these spices might be potentially be used as natural antioxidants in food.