An Evaluation of the Anti-oxidant Activity of Fermented Defatted Sesame Seeds

This study was conducted to investigate the total lignin content and anti-oxidant activity in extracts of defatted sesame seeds (DSS) fermented with 15 strains of Bacillus subtilis. The anti-oxidant activities of DSS were analyzed both before and after fermentation. The total lignan content of the DSS extracts fermented with BCH3678 (1,613.8 mg/l) and BCH3572 (1,599.5 mg/l) were relatively high compared to other strains. Anti-oxidant activity was determined according to phenolic compound and flavonoid content and DPPH radical scavenging rate; the highest total phenolic compound content was provided by the DSS with SRCM103716 at 2,803.3 mg GAE/g which returned total flavonoid content of 1,553.1 mg/g as strong correlation of its anti-oxidant activity. The DSS extract fermented by SRCM103716 at 37°C for 24 hr showed the highest DPPH scavenging rate at 66.5%. The fermented DSS extracts, regardless of strain, demonstrated higher anti-oxidative activity than the unfermented control, and these results suggest that such extracts could be useful as a potential source of bioactive compounds.