Determination of antioxidant activity of spices and their active principles by differential pulse voltammetry.

The anodic oxidation of mercury in the presence of hydrogen peroxide in differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was used to determine the antioxidant (AO) character of radical scavengers. Hydroperoxide radical is formed at the potentials of the oxidation peak on mercury electrodes, such radical reacting with the antioxidants in different extension. The parameter C10 (antioxidant concentration at which the peak area decreases by 10%) is used to measure the scavenging activity of the individual antioxidants. To establish the scavenging activity of antioxidant mixtures as a whole, the parameter, μ10 as the reverse of V10, V10 being the volume necessary to decrease the peak area in DPV by 10%, was selected. Higher μ10 values correspond to higher scavenging activity. The studies have been extended to aqueous extracts of some species. The results may be useful in explaining the effect of spices in vitro and in vivo studies.