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Effects of air temperature and blanching pre-treatment on phytochemical content, antioxidant activity and enzyme inhibition activities of Thai basil leaves (Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflorum)
Effects of air temperature and blanching pre-treatment on phytochemical content, antioxidant activity and enzyme inhibition activities of Thai basil leaves (Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflorum)
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Date
2021
Authors
N.L. Le
T.T.H. Le
N.B. Ma
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Research Projects
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Abstract
Thai basil leaves (Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflorum) have been used in food flavoring
and traditional medicine. Hot-air drying is a convenient and low-cost method to preserve
them for long-term use but causes the loss of their bioactive compounds during the
process. In this work, the effect of pre-blanching on preserving these characteristics of
Thai basil leaves dried at different air temperatures was studied. The antioxidant
characteristics were evaluated by the contents of total phenolics, total flavonoids and total
chlorophylls and the scavenging capacity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)
radicals. In addition, the inhibitory activities against starch-digesting enzymes were
assessed with α-amylase and amyloglucosidase. At the air temperature of 50oC,
antioxidant characteristics of dried leaves with pre-blanching were proven better than
those without blanching and came close to those of the fresh sample. The drying
temperature had more evident effects on inhibitory activities against starch-digesting
enzymes than blanching. These activities of hot-air dried leaves were comparable to those
of the fresh one. This study could provide insights into the integration of blanching and
hot-air drying to preserve medicinal plants.
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Keywords
Thai basil,
Blanching,
Antioxidant,
DPPH,
Drying,
Starch-digesting enzymes