Application of the QUENCHER methodology to the food industry

Abstract

The QUENCHER method is a time and cost-saving extraction-free procedure measuring in vitro antioxidant capacity which appears highly relevant from an industrial perspective. However, grinding and exact weighting of material may be considered as critical points and were addressed in the present paper. Increasing sample weight at constant ABTS volume reduced TEAC values up to 50%. Working at higher ABTS radical concentration than recommended furthermore increased the TEAC values by 30%. Both weight and ABTS concentration effect could yet be predicted using a general model built on refined wheat (adjusted R2: 0.9986). Only cryo-milling enabled to reduce granulometry of bran-rich samples in recommended range. Consequent size reduction increased TEAC values up to 90%. Impact of ultrafine jet-milling did however not systemically impact more TEAC values than cryo-milling. The proposed model approach allowed taking the best advantages of QUENCHER and confirmed this method as ideal for industrial applications.

Keywords: ABTS; Antioxidant capacity; Breakfast cereals; Factory monitoring; Whole grain.