STUDIES REGARDING THE ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF SOME BIOPRODUCTS OBTAINED FROM CURCUMA LONGA AND ZINGIBER OFFICINALE RHIZOMES
MAGDALINA URSU(1), NICOLETA RADU(1,2*), LUCIA CAMELIA PIRVU(3), NARCISA ELENA BABEANU(1), RALUCA MADALINA SENIN(2), MIHAELA BEGEA(4)
1 University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, Faculty of Biotechnology, 59 Marasti Boulevard, District 1, Bucharest, Romania
2 National Institute of Chemistry and Petrochemistry, R&D of Bucharest, Biotechnology Department, 202 Splaiul Independentei, District 6, Bucharest, Romania
3 National Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry R&D, Bucharest, 112 Calea Vitan, District 3, Bucharest, Romania
4 National University of Sciences and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, Faculty of Biotechnical Systems Engineering, 313 Splaiul Independentei, District 6, Bucharest, Romania
* Corresponding author: nicoleta.radu@biotehnologii.usamv.ro
Abstract
The study aimed to investigate the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of extracts and essential oils obtained from the rhizomes of Zingiber officinale (ginger) and Curcuma longa (turmeric). Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was used to evaluate the chemical composition, while chemiluminescence was employed to assess antioxidant properties. The results indicated that the ginger extract obtained from ginger rhizomes and chloroform had the highest polyphenol content (398 ± 7.56 mg GAE×L-1) and exhibited superior antioxidant activity compared to all tested bioproducts, with IC50 = 0.000625 µL×mL-1 at t = 5 s and IC50 = 0.053 L×mL-1 at t = 60 s. Ginger essential oils demonstrated greater antioxidant properties than those obtained from turmeric rhizomes, due to their higher content of geraniol and nerol. In conclusion, the essential oils and crude extracts from ginger rhizomes in chloroform exhibited the highest antioxidant activity, attributed to polyphenolic compounds and bioactive molecules such as geraniol and nerol.