Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

« Back to Farmacia Journal 6/2019

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF SOME ROOIBOS TEA PRODUCTS

ALEXANDRA EPURE 1#, ILIOARA ONIGA 1*, DANIELA BENEDEC 1#, DANIELA HANGANU 1, ANA-MARIA GHELDIU 2#, ANCA TOIU 1, LAURIAN VLASE 2

1.Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 V. Babeș Street, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2.Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy, “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 V. Babeș Street, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Download Full Article PDF

The Rooibos tea, known as well as red tea, has lately gain attention due to its reported rich antioxidant composition. The aim of this research was to determine the polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity of 6 commercial types of Rooibos tea available on the Romanian market. The analyses of polyphenolic compounds were carried out using chromatographic and spectrophotometric methods. The total polyphenol content (TPC) was assessed by the Folin-Ciocâlteu method and some polyphenols were identified by HPLC: ferulic, sinapic acids, hyperoside, isoquercitrin, rutin, quercitrin, quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol etc. The results showed qualitative and quantitative differences between the samples. The evaluation of antioxidant capacity was performed using DPPH (α,α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl) and FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power) methods, and a moderate activity has been highlighted for all the analysed samples.