Abstract

Saffron petal is the main by-product of saffron processing which is producing in large amounts annually. The purposes of this work were to determine total phenolics content in the methanolic extract of saffron petal using Folin-ciocalteu reagent and to measure their antioxidant activity in various in vitro models, such as ?-carotene-linoleate and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH). Saffron petal extract in different concentrations (0.5-5 mg ml^-1) were compared with standard antioxidants of ascorbic acid, ?-tocopherol and TBHQ (0.5-1 mg ml^-1). Total phenolics content was 3.42 mg gallic acid/g dry weight. In model systems of beta-carotene-linoleate and DPPH, the extract at 500 ppm concentration showed 91.4% and 74.2% antioxidant activity which was comparable with that of TBHQ (93.1% and 77.9%) at 100 ppm. The results showed that saffron petal could be considered as a bioresource of phenolic compounds with high antioxidant activity.

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