Anti-oxidant activities of herbs and fruits extracts in 'Bitter 54'

Abstract

Bitter herbal liquors are products often consumed, not only because of their refreshment properties, but also healthy reasons. The main components of bitters are different herbal extracts which contain a lot of different bioactive compounds, such as phenols, polyphenols and their polymers, phenol carboxylic acids, organic acids flavonoids, tannins etc. At the market different products labeled as bitter herbal liquors can be found. They are made from 28, 32 or even 54 and 56 extracts obtained by alcohol or water extraction from different parts of herbs, fruits, seeds, spices, roots, etc. By definition 'bitters' are natural products made of fruits and herbs extracts permitted for human nutrition. Those products are not only alcohol beverages, but also the drinks with potentially healthful effects. Consumed in moderate ways they may provide intake of useful bioactive compounds. The paper presents extraction procedures of 46 different healthful and aromatic herbs and 8 fruits, used for production of 'Bitter 54'. Anti-oxidative activity of plant extracts was determinate by DPPH test using method of Blois. The free radical-scavenging activity of the plant extracts was evaluated using the stable radical DPPH. Synthetic antioxidants BHT (ditertbytil-hydroxytoluene, EC50= 6.2μgml-1), trolox (vitamine E analog soluble in water, EC50= 6.8μgml-1) were used for comparison. EC50 values were calculated as concentration of the extract necessary to decrease DPPH radical concentration for 50%. It was found that the EC50 value of Bitter kept in the green bottle in the dark has been 139.47μl/ml of solvent and it has been stable during 120 days. The results indicate that 'Bitter 54' possess significant antioxidant capacity. .

U radu su prikazani načini ekstrakcije 46 lekovitih i aromatičnih bilja i osam voćnih vrsta koji ulaze u sastav Bittera 54. Utvrđeno je da gorki biljni liker - Bitter 54 sadrži značajan antioksidativni potencijal. Potencijalna antioksidativna aktivnost određivana je testom DPPH, metodom po Bloisu. Vrednost EC50 uzorka Bittera 54 koji je stajao u zatamnjenoj boci u mraku bila je 139,47 μl/ml rastvarača i nije se promenila tokom 150 dana čuvanja. Sintetički antioksidansi BHT (ditercbutil-hidroksitoluen) i troloks (analog vitamina E rastvoran u vodi) imaju vrednosti EC50 6,2 i 6,8 μg/ml, respektivno. Vrednost EC50 predstavlja koncentraciju ekstrakta koja za 50% smanjuje koncentraciju radikala DPPH. .