Comprehensive comparison of antioxidant properties of tinctures

Justyna Polak; Mariola Bartoszek; Roksana Bernat

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-42656-2

Comprehensive comparison of antioxidant properties of tinctures

Sci Rep. 2019 Apr 16;9(1):6148. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-42656-2.

Authors

Justyna Polak¹, Mariola Bartoszek², Roksana Bernat²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Institute of Chemistry, The University of Silesia, 9 Szkolna Street, 40-006, Katowice, Poland. justyna.polak@us.edu.pl.
² Department of Materials Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Institute of Chemistry, The University of Silesia, 9 Szkolna Street, 40-006, Katowice, Poland.

Abstract

Homemade tinctures, traditional Polish alcoholic beverages called "nalewkas" (similar to alcohol herbal tinctures), which antioxidant capacity have never been studied before, were characterized by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and ultraviolet visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. The antioxidant properties of nalewkas made according to homemade recipes were compared to commercially produced nalewkas. The impact of aging on antioxidant properties of nalewkas was investigated. The results showed that all of examined nalewkas exhibited strong antioxidant properties (antioxidant capacity TEAC_DPPH 466 μmol TE/100 mL - 11890 μmol TE/100 mL). It was found that the value of the antioxidant capacity corresponds to the total phenolic and aromatic proton content. The impact of the production method and the type of fruit used on the TEAC_DPPH value was also noted. The unripe walnuts with green husks has the highest value of the antioxidant capacity TEAC_DPPH (11890 µM/100 mL) not only for alcoholic beverages, but also among food products.