Evaluation of antioxidactivity of green and black tea (Camellia sinensis) and rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) tea extracts by means of hplc with reaction detector

Antioxidants are chemical compounds that scavenge free radicals in organisms and protect most important biomolecules such as DNA, proteins, lipids from their damaging activity. Antioxidants reduce a risk of cancer, inflammations, arthritis, cardiovascular diseases and others. The objective of this study was to prepare extracts of different tea species (Camellia sinensis, Aspalathus linearis) in order to compare their antioxidant and radical scavenging activities using reaction detection. Methanolic black, green and red tea extracts were prepared. Reaction detection was used for on-line determination of free radicals of 2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazil (DPPH) binding by high performance liquid chromatography.