» Articles » PMID: 24804054

Antioxidant Assays - Consistent Findings from FRAP and ORAC Reveal a Negative Impact of Organic Cultivation on Antioxidant Potential in Spinach but Not Watercress or Rocket Leaves

Overview
Journal Food Sci Nutr
Specialty Biotechnology
Date 2014 May 8
PMID 24804054
Citations 25
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Watercress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum), wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia), and spinach (Spinacia oleracea) are commercial crops reported to have high concentrations of antioxidants, possibly contributing to disease prevention following human consumption. Following analysis of supermarket-purchased salad leaves, we report the antioxidant content potential of these species using two comparable techniques assessing the consistency between the assays - by the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay. The leaves were harvested from both conventionally and organically managed crops, to investigate whether organic agriculture results in improved crop quality. Watercress had the highest FRAP and ability to scavenge free radicals, followed by spinach and rocket. For watercress and rocket, there was no significant effect of organic agriculture on FRAP and ORAC, but for spinach, the antioxidant potential was reduced and this was significant at the 5% level of probability for FRAP but not ORAC, although the trend was clear in both tests. We conclude that there is variation in salad crop antioxidant potential and that FRAP and ORAC are useful techniques for measuring antioxidants in these salad crops with similar ranking for each salad crop studied.

Citing Articles

Bio-inspired preparation of Ag NPs, rGO, and Ag/rGO nanocomposites for acoustical, antioxidant, and plant growth regulatory studies.

Sarvalkar P, Jagtap A, Prasad N, Yaul A, Sharma K, Ramteke A Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):3281.

PMID: 39863693 PMC: 11762272. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-87705-1.


Assessing the potential role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in improving the phytochemical content and antioxidant properties in Gomphrena globosa.

Dhalaria R, Verma R, Sharma R, Jomova K, Nepovimova E, Kumar H Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):22830.

PMID: 39354027 PMC: 11445267. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-73479-5.


Effects of Drying Methods on the Phytochemical Contents, Antioxidant Properties, and Anti-Diabetic Activity of R.Br. (Betong Watercress) from Southern Thailand.

Kijkuokool P, Stepanov I, Ounjaijean S, Koonyosying P, Rerkasem K, Chuljerm H Life (Basel). 2024; 14(9).

PMID: 39337986 PMC: 11432964. DOI: 10.3390/life14091204.


Chemical composition's effect on Linn.'s antioxidant capacity and erythrocyte protection: Bioactive components and molecular docking analysis.

Aouadi A, Saoud D, Rebiai A, Ibrahim M, Messaoudi M, Alia K Open Life Sci. 2024; 19(1):20220944.

PMID: 39220590 PMC: 11365465. DOI: 10.1515/biol-2022-0944.


Stem Extract and Nanoparticles: Effects on Proliferation, Colony Formation, Apoptosis Induction, Cell Cycle Arrest, and Mitochondrial Membrane Potential in Human Breast Adenocarcinoma Breast Cancer Cells.

Chittasupho C, Samee W, Takuathung M, Okonogi S, Nimkulrat S, Athikomkulchai S Int J Mol Sci. 2024; 25(2).

PMID: 38256052 PMC: 10815711. DOI: 10.3390/ijms25020978.


References
1.
Benzie I, Strain J . The ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) as a measure of "antioxidant power": the FRAP assay. Anal Biochem. 1996; 239(1):70-6. DOI: 10.1006/abio.1996.0292. View

2.
Aruoma O . Free radicals, oxidative stress, and antioxidants in human health and disease. J Am Oil Chem Soc. 2020; 75(2):199-212. PMC: 7101596. DOI: 10.1007/s11746-998-0032-9. View

3.
Barillari J, Canistro D, Paolini M, Ferroni F, Pedulli G, Iori R . Direct antioxidant activity of purified glucoerucin, the dietary secondary metabolite contained in rocket (Eruca sativa Mill.) seeds and sprouts. J Agric Food Chem. 2005; 53(7):2475-82. DOI: 10.1021/jf047945a. View

4.
Rose P, Huang Q, Ong C, Whiteman M . Broccoli and watercress suppress matrix metalloproteinase-9 activity and invasiveness of human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2005; 209(2):105-13. DOI: 10.1016/j.taap.2005.04.010. View

5.
Kim H, Chen F, Wang X, Chung H, Jin Z . Evaluation of antioxidant activity of vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides L.) oil and identification of its antioxidant constituents. J Agric Food Chem. 2005; 53(20):7691-5. DOI: 10.1021/jf050833e. View