Effect of processing on antioxidant activity of bustard cardamom powder

Abstract

Bustard cardamom has medicinal properties and contains polyphenol compounds which have antioxidant activity. It still has limited use only in Chanthaburi province. The processing to be ready to use bustard cardamom powder can help to expand the market to other areas. This research was to study the effect of processing on antioxidant activity and physical characteristics of bustard cardamom powder. The effect of blanching on antioxidant activity and color value of bustard cardamom powder was studied. Results showed that blanching with sodium metabisulfite solution was higher amount of total phenolic content and antioxidant activity than blanching with water and sodium chloride solution for DPPH assay (p ≤ 0.05). Subsequently, the effect of drying temperature on antioxidant activity and color value of the powder was investigated. Results revealed that low temperature could retain the highest total phenolic content and redness value increased when the drying temperature increased. Finally, the effect of particle size on antioxidant activity and solubility of the powder was observed. Results demonstrated that total phenolic content tended to decrease as the particle size decreased. The powder at 300 microns was higher antioxidant effect than other sizes, while the solubility of the powder increased with decreasing particle size. The final product has the ability to inhibit free radicals from DPPH and ß-carotene bleaching tests as high as 75.47 and 92.64%, respectively.