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Herbs used for medical purposes are required to meet high pharmacopoeial quality standards, whereas spices used as additives to dishes and food products do not have to meet such rigorous standards. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to compare medicinal herbs and spices of the same plant species that are applied in different areas with regard to the total phenolic content (TPC) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of their methanolic and water extracts. This study showed that the TPC values of both extracts prepared from medicinal herbs and spices as quantified using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent did not differ significantly; however, the TAC values obtained by the DPPH assays of the methanol and water extracts differed significantly. No such differences were found for the same extracts when the FRAP assay was used for analysis. This study shows that the level of antioxidants is dependent on the plant species and the botanical family. Plants belonging to the Lamiaceae and Asteraceae families are richer in phenolic compounds and have stronger antioxidant potentials than those originating from the Apiaceae family. Multivariate statistical analysis indicates that the majority of medicinal herbs and spices of the same plant species are found in the same cluster. In addition, the extraction solvent was identified as one of the factors influencing the clustering of the plants on the PCA scatterplot and CA dendrogram.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s11130-018-0699-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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The aim of this work was to evaluate the antioxidant potential of teas prepared from twenty-four commercially available berries and flowers of Sambucus nigra L. in relation to their phenolic profile, as reflected by the most representative phenolic acids (caffeic, chlorogenic, p-coumaric, ferulic, gallic and syringic acids); flavonols (quercetin, kaempferol, myricetin and rutin); and total phenolic (TPC), phenolic acid (TAC) and flavonoid (TFC) contents. The infusions prepared from elderflowers contained more abundant phenolic compounds than the elderberry infusions. The TPC of these infusions ranged from 19.81 to 23.90 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g dry weight of sample (GAE/g DW) for elderberries and from 15.23 to 35.57 mg GAE/g DW for elderflowers, whereas the TFC ranged from 2.60 to 4.49 mg of rutin equivalents/g dry weight of sample (RUTE/g DW) in elderberry infusions and from 5.27 to 13.19 mg RUTE/g DW in elderflower infusions. Among the phenolic compounds quantified in this study, quercetin (2.07–9.48 mg/g DW) and myricetin (1.17–9.62 mg/g DW) had the highest concentrations in the teas prepared from berries and flowers, respectively. Moreover, the antioxidant potential of elder infusions assessed by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays revealed that the teas prepared from flowers had higher mean DPPH and FRAP activities than the teas prepared from berries. Therefore, elder beverages could be important dietary sources of natural antioxidants that contribute to the prevention of diseases caused by oxidative stress.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11130-016-0594-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The aim of the research was to compare chemical composition and antioxidant activity of black and green teas with those of erva-mate. Therefore, essential elements (P, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mn, and Cu), phenolic acids (gallic, caffeic, pcoumaric, and ferulic), flavonoids (catechin, rutin, myricetin, apigenin, and quercetin), and alkaloids (caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline) were determined. Phenolics and alkaloids were quantified by HPLC, metallic elements by atomic absorption spectrometry, and antioxidant activity by a 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid method. Total P, inorganic P, and Mg expressed in milligrams per gram dry weight (d.w.) and other metals expressed in milligrams per kilogram d.w.) in the order Mn > Zn > Fe > Cu were assayed. Caffeine was found above 25 mg/g d.w. in all samples. Among the phenolic compounds, caffeic acid and quercetin were on the highest level, whilst apigenin and p-coumaric acid were on the lowest. Correlation analysis revealed frequently occurring relations between P and several metals and phenolics and also between Zn and other metabolites from flavonoids, phenolic acids, and alkaloids. Within organic compounds, correlations were often found among gallic and caffeic acids and other analytes, like p-coumaric, ferulic acids, and myricetin. Antioxidant activity of studied infusions from different types of teas was very similar. Cluster analysis grouped the studied materials into clear clusters, generally separating erva-mate samples from Camellia sinensis. Principal component analysis indicated total P, Mg, Cu, caffeic acid, myricetin, and p-coumaric acid as factors influencing mostly the diversity among analyzed samples.