The objective of this study was to investigate the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of quinoa cultivated in Korea and to compare it with imported quinoa from the USA and Peru. The highest amount of total flavonoid contents (TFC) with 20.91 mg quercetin equivalents/100 g was measured in quinoa seed extract cultivated in Korea, while the total phenolic contents (TPC) were significantly higher in quinoa from the USA (16.28 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g). In addition, quinoa extracts cultivated in Korea displayed a superior antioxidant ability in both, ferric reducing antioxidant power and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl values. There was a high correlation between TFC and antioxidant activity and a low correlation between TPC and antioxidant activity. The antimicrobial activity of the quinoa extracts was determined using a disc diffusion assay and optical density method. In both assays, the quinoa seed extracts did not have strong antimicrobial activity against foodborne bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Campylobacter jejuni.
Keywords: antimicrobial activity; antioxidant activity; flavonoid contents; phenolic contents; quinoa extracts.