engleski

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF WILD EDIBLE PLANTS FROM CROATIA

The consumption of wild edible plants has strong historical roots in Dalmatia. Nowadays, the culinary use of mixture of wild edible herbs, known as ‘mišancija’ is gaining in popularity due to renewed public interest in “natural” food. In order to find out whether the plants in the mixture have potential benefit on human health we have investigated composition and antioxidant activity of plants in mišancija. For determination of antioxidant activity, several spectrophotometric methods were used: Total Antioxidant Activity (TAA), Reducing Power (RP), Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and DPPH radical scavenging assay. In addition, Total phenolic content (TPC) and Total Flavonoid Content (TFC) were determined. Results for each plant individually were compared with their behavior in the mixture. It is discovered that the plants in two of the studies: TAA and DPPH show potentially synergetic effect which could give an explanation why they are commonly eaten together. Species that presented the strongest antioxidant effects in the majority of assays was wild carrot (Daucus carota L.). HPLC analysis has indicated that D. carota contains several phenolic acids such as ferulic and p-coumaric acid which might be responsible for the observed antioxidant action. Results of this study point to potential health benefits connected with consumption of wild edible plants.

antioxidant; edible plants

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