Antioxidant Activity of Some Spices and Their Two Traditional Mixture Named Ras el Hanout Used in Northwestern of Algeria

Aims: Our study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activity of ten spices in the composition of two spice blends named Ras el Hanout I and Ras el Hanout II. The spices studied are Alpinia officinarum, Cinnamomum cassia, Carum carvi, Coriandrum sativum, Cuminum cyminum, Curcuma domestica, Foeniculum vulgare, Piper cubeba, Piper nigrum, Zingiber officinale, mixtures were prepared well defined measures.

Place and of Study: Laboratory of Natural Products, Department of Biology, Abou Bekr Belkaïd University, Department of Biology, Tlemcen.

Methodology: The contents of polyphenols were determined by spectrophotometric techniques. The antioxidant activities were determined in vitro through trapping evaluation tests of the free radical DPPH and iron reduction (FRAP). The dried crude extracts of spices were prepared in a water-methanol mixture.

Results: Yields vary considerably from one spice to another with values ranging between 4.01% for Coriandrum sativum and 12.26% for Cuminum cyminum. The evaluation of the antioxidant activity by the scavenging of free radical DPPH and the iron reduction method (FRAP) showed that our extracts have an antioxidant potential. The extract of Cinnamomum cassia has better reducing capability of iron in comparison to all other spices and even compared with standard antioxidant ascorbic acid. Also, a stronger free radical scavenging activity was observed compared to that of ascorbic acid and BHA. On the other hand, the concentration which inhibits the 50% effect free radical DPPH is equal to 0.15±0.035 mg / mL for Ras el Hanout I and 0.51±0.07 mg / mL for Ras el Hanout II but which remains higher than that of 0.09±0.05mg /mL ascorbic acid.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that crude extracts of spices exhibit (individually and as a mix) significant antioxidant activity.